Event

Sonido PirataPost an Event »

Eli Ridgway Gallery

September 11 - October 17, 2010

Info

172 Minna Street San Francisco, CA 94105
Google Map »
Sonido Pirata
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 11th, 4-7pm Baer Ridgway Exhibitions is pleased to present Sonido Pirata, a special exhibition in our Bookstore Space by Julio César Morales. This project is based on the cultural phenomenon of pirated music and its methods of distribution through the informal economies of street vendor. Morales has transformed an archive of collected photographs and videos from Mexico City into line drawings and porcelain objects delineating the innovative structural features of pushcarts and mobile sound units. These works show the multiple adaptations and customizations that have taken place as the street vendors alter sound equipment in order to create their own individual economies. Sonido Pirata also references the sociological processes in which Latin American economic strategies have come to "contaminate" the urban landscape of California cities. The artwork explores the influence of informal economic strategies adapted to the new market conditions in California and the adaptive ingenuity of immigrants. Sonido Pirata attempts to record the living history of labor in order to create an understanding of the ways consciousness shifts and morphs as it moves between languages, cultures, and political systems. About Julio César Morales Julio César Morales is an artist, educator and curator currently working both individually and collaboratively. Morales utilizes a range of media including photography, video, and printed and digital media to make conceptual projects that address the productive friction that occurs in trans-cultural territories such as urban Tijuana and San Francisco, and in inherently impure media such as popular music and graphic design. Morales teaches and creates art in a variety of settings, from juvenile halls and probation offices to museums, art colleges, alternative non-profit institutions. Morales' work consistently explores issues of labor, memory, surveillance technologies and identity strategies. His work has been shown at 2009 Lyon Biennale; (Lyon, France), 2008 and 2004 San Juan Triennial (San Juan, Puerto Rico); 2007 Istanbul Biennale; Los Angeles County Art Museum (Los Angeles); 2006 Singapore Biennale; Frankfurter Kunstverein (Frankfurt, Germany); Swiss Cultural Center (Paris, France); The Rooseum Museum of Art (Malmo, Sweden); Peres Projects (Los Angeles); Fototeca de Havana (Cuba); Harris Lieberman Gallery (New York City); MUCA Roma (Mexico City) and UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles). His work has been written about in Flash Art, The New York Times, Artforum, Freize Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Art Nexxus, and Art in America amongst others. Morales has received awards by The Rockefeller Foundation, The Creative Work Fund, Artadia, The San Francisco Arts Commission's Public Art Program, The California Arts Council, Friends of Contemporary Art, The Fleishhacker Foundation and AIT Arts Initiative Tokyo in collaboration with The Ishibashi Foundation and Printed Matter in New York.