FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. “Rafael Vargas Bernard at VOLTA Art Fair, NYC as part of the Armory Show Weekend”.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

REM Project is proud to announce the qualification to participate in VOLTA Art Fair, NYC from the 8-11 March, 2018. This represents the international debut for the San Juan, Puerto Rico based Contemporary Art Gallery. In this next edition of Volta REM Project will present the solo show of the artist Rafael Vargas Bernard titled Buscando en el escombro for something better.

The solo show is based on the aftermath of Hurricane Maria confirming the ineptitude, corruption, and obsolescence of the government of Puerto Rico coupled with decades of colonial neglect and indifference by the United States’ federal government. Puerto Ricans are awakening from the illusion that the government serves the people’s interests. We have suffered emotional turmoil, financial crisis, loss of basic infrastructure, rampant unemployment, food shortage, plus widespread damage, destruction and loss of property. Neither the federal nor the colonial governments have attempted or been able to better the post-hurricane situation in Puerto Rico and the citizens have had to take direct action to help the island and its people survive. We need to emerge from under the debris of the Estado Libre Asociado.

This project consists of works created from or referencing debris and wreckage and represents ideas about post-Maria Puerto Rico and the circumstances leading to the colony’s current condition. Some pieces are interactive, requiring simple and physical direct or indirect participation. Most consist of or are a result of a generative digital, electrical, or mechanical system. All produce sound. Most are connected to a central sound system in the project space.

Born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Rafael Vargas Bernard is a visual artist focused on digital art and new media tendencies. He studied sculpture at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas de Puerto Rico and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), Residency program La Practica at Beta Local (Puerto Rico), participated in the residency program created by Alanna Heiss, Clocktower Productions(NYC). Also, Mana Contemporary curated by Ysabel Pinyol and exhibition: Focus on Puerto Rico (Miami). As part of his compromise with the future art generations Rafael Vargas Bernard is an art educator for museums, institutions and communities.

His work explores functional and non-functional systems (including power structures, economic systems and generative systems) and society’s relationship with these. He creates pieces and experiences that are often interactive and require participation with the intention of provoking dialogue and action. He employs readily accessible materials and technologies, found objects, and a utilitarian esthetic.

His work has been exhibited twice (2) at Biennal Tropical, Curated by Pablo Leon de la Barra (Gugenhein Museum Latin American Curator), Exit Art, Curated by Papo Colo (New York), Peripher, Curated by Lisa Ladner (Zürich), and Las Naves , Curated by Laura Bravo (Spain), among others. Rafael is part of the permanent collection of the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico and Museo de Arte de Caguas. Collection Hernandez Castrodad. Awarded by PUMA Creative Art Network, Curated by Mark Coetzee with a participation on Basel (Swiss) and Documenta (Germany). Also has participated at NADA Art Fair and now VOLTA Art Fair.

Vargas Bernard utilizes performance, sound, programming, sculpture, video, painting, humor, and drawing in his creative practice.

REM Project is a contemporary art space, created by Roberto Escobar Molina (REM). The gallery space is located in Santurce, Puerto Rico and dedicated to exhibiting mostly Caribbean and Latin American artists, and their integration with artists of other origins. Rem Project’s main focus is on curating a broad selection of multidisciplinary artists, whose works range in different medias, such as: paintings, installations, sculptures, murals, mixed media, photography, film and conceptual art.  The gallery participates actively in the island’s growing art scene, making the gallery a center of influence in this part of the world and recognized by collectors globally.

VOLTA NY is a contemporary art fair comprised of solo projects by leading and emerging international artists. The American incarnation of the original Basel VOLTA show, VOLTA NY has since its 2008 debut operated as a beacon for creative discovery and social engagement during Armory Arts Week. Led by Amanda Coulson, VOLTA’s longtime Artistic Director, VOLTA NY showcases contemporary art positions in an approachable way accessible to younger art-lovers and seasoned collectors alike. By spotlighting artists through solo projects, VOLTA NY promotes their galleries’ exhibition styles “at home” while refocusing the fair-going experience back to its most fundamental point: the artists and their works. http://ny.voltashow.com/exhibitors-2018/

The Armory Show is New York City’s premier art fair and a leading cultural destination for discovering and collecting the world’s most important 20th- and 21st-century art. Staged on Piers 92 & 94. The Armory Show features presentations by over 200 leading international galleries, innovative artist commissions and dynamic public programs. Since its founding in 1994, The Armory Show has served as a nexus for the art world, inspiring dialogue, discovery and patronage in the visual arts. The Armory Show was founded by four New York gallerists – Colin de Land, Pat Hearn, Matthew Marks and Paul Morris – who sought a platform to present and promote new voices in the visual arts.

If you are in New York from March 8 – 11 we hope to see you at booth D-20 on PIER 90.  For more information about tickets (https://wl.seetickets.us/event/VOLTA-NY/357915?afflky=VoltaNY ).