‘Infinito Botánica: L.A., A Project by Franco Mondini-Ruiz’
Opens at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History Sep. 12
In conjunction with the Fowler Museum exhibition ‘Botánica Los Angeles:
Latino Popular Religious Art in the City of Angels’ (Sept. 12, 2004–Feb.
27, 2005), contemporary artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz is creating a site-specific
installation entitled ‘Infinito Botánica: L.A.,’ which will be on display
at the Museum from Sept. 12, 2004–Jan. 30, 2005.
This project continues the artist’s body of work using the captivating
baroque iconography of the botánica to express issues of faith,
ethnicity, and identity, in this case particularly as they relate to the
city of Los Angeles. Mondini-Ruiz’s installation will be created during
a two-week artist residency at UCLA in August, and will include materials
obtained from local botánicas, as well as tourist shops, street
vendors, designer boutiques, thrift stores and the Fowler Museum’s permanent
collections.
With this visual extravaganza of objects carefully arranged in a modernist
grid on a huge white platform, the structure of ‘Infinito Botánica: L.A.’
mirrors the cityscape of Los Angeles. The wildly disparate objects echo
the city’s fascinatingly diverse population and ever-changing demographics.
Mondini-Ruiz’s infatuation with botánicas dates to the mid 1990’s,
when he ran the botánica-cum-art installation ‘Infinito Botánica
and Gift Shop’ in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. The shop — which
sold herbs, candles, potions and other common botánica merchandise
alongside the works of local artists, cast-offs from friends’ closets,
and Spanish colonial antiques — evolved into a popular salon for the cultural
elite from San Antonio and beyond. Here Mondini-Ruiz began to use his
work to blur distinctions between the sacred and the profane, high art
and low, the privileged and the marginalized, the tragic and the sublime.
He subsequently moved to New York and has continued to employ the visual
vernacular of the botánica in his installations. Multiple incarnations
of ‘Infinito Botánica’ have been exhibited at museums around the country,
each a site-specific work reflecting the city’s local culture. ‘Infinito
Botánica: L.A.,’ marks the first time the artist’s work has appeared in
Los Angeles.
Mondini-Ruiz is a 2004-5 recipient of The Rome Prize from the American
Academy in Rome. His solo exhibitions include ‘Mexique’ (2000) at the
Museo del Barrio, New York, ‘Infinito Botanica’ (1999) in San Antonio
and at Bard College, and ‘Tableau Vivant’ (1998) at the Alamo in San Antonio,
Texas. His work was also featured in the traveling exhibition ‘Ultrabaroque:
Aspects of Post-Latin American Art’ (2000-2003) and in the 2000 Whitney
Biennial.
‘Infinito Botánica: L.A.’ is made possible by support from Dallas Price-Van
Breda and the Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director’s Discretionary Fund.
The exhibitions ‘Infinito Botánica: L.A. and ‘Botánica Los Angeles’ mark
the onset of Year of the Arts at UCLA. Year of the Arts celebrates the
opening of two major arts buildings at UCLA. Newly renovated Glorya Kaufman
Hall, adjacent to the Fowler, opens in fall ’04 followed by a year-long
presentation of the best in opera, dance, theater, music, spoken word,
exhibitions, and lectures organized by UCLA’s outstanding arts leaders.
The Year culminates in fall ’05 with the opening of the Edythe L. and
Eli Broad Center featuring exceptional visual arts exhibitions and the
unveiling of a Richard Serra monumental Torqued Ellipse sculpture.
The Fowler Museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.;
and on Thursdays, noon until 8 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
The Fowler Museum, part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture,
is located in the north part of the UCLA campus. Admission is free. Campus
parking is available for $7 in Lot 4. For more information, the public
may call (310) 825-4361 or visit www.fowler.ucla.edu.
Related Programs:
Sun., Sept. 12, 2004 noon–5 pm
Opening Day
2 pm
Artist Talk by Franco Mondini-Ruiz
Followed by a reception in The Elizabeth and W. Thomas Davis Courtyard.
3 pm
Performance by Pacifico Dance Company
See this renowned group in a repertoire of both original and traditional
dance from Mexico. Outdoors in the Fowler’s UCLA Art Council Amphitheater.
4 pm
Performance by Franco Mondini-Ruiz
Mondini-Ruiz will offer myriad objects for sale at his “Infinito Botánica
and Gift Shop.”
-UCLA-
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