Lieu d’exposition
/ Exhibition place
Biography
Juan Ortiz-Apuy, a Canadian-Costa Rican artist based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) since 2003, whimsically delves into consumerism through collage and assemblage. With degrees from Concordia University, the Glasgow School of Art, and NSCAD University, his multimedia installations draw inspiration from design, art history, and pop culture. His work has graced prestigious international venues including Les Abattoirs Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (France), the IKEA Museum (Sweden), Pamflett (Norway), DHC/ART Foundation Phi for Contemporary Art (Montreal), Owens Art Gallery (Sackville), Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa), AXENÉO7 (Gatineau), MOMENTA Biennale de l’Image, Quebec City Biennal, Manif d’Art 7 (Quebec), Truck Contemporary Art (Calgary), Museum London (London), Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto), VOX Centre de l’Image Contemporaine (Montreal), Plug in Institute of Contemporary Art (Winnipeg), and the Esker Foundation (Calgary). Ortiz-Apuy has been honored with grants and artist residencies at esteemed institutions such as MASS MoCA (USA), the Vermont Studio Center (USA), the Frans Masereel Centre (Belgium), and the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark). He currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Studio Arts at Concordia University.
Approach and works on display
The Garden of Earthly Delights (2019)
In our current context of globalization and environmental precariousness, The Garden of Earthly Delights immerses the viewer in a peculiar realm of unboxing videos and animated household items, all while contemplating how to forge a more sustainable future. Through this installation, Juan Ortiz-Apuy presents an abstract and artificial garden of material pleasures, where various objects, inert or alive, parade across the screen, ranging from cables and luxury shoes to fruits and animals. Ortiz-Apuy weaves a tapestry of fantastical and obsessive relationships intertwined with commodities, thus painting a portrait of consumer society, where human interaction with things morphs into a form of socialization. His video installation The Garden of Earthly Delights showcases a collage of found YouTube videos, featuring alluring hands and captivating narrators unveiling Apple watches, live turtles, and more. The work was conceived during a residency at the Vermont Studio Centre, where Ortiz-Apuy spent a month delving into unboxing videos for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a sculptor, he is captivated by the profound connection we, as consumers, share with matter and material.