MARIO GARCÍA TORRES

CARTA ABIERTA A DR. ATL (OPEN LETTER TO DR. ATL)
2005
Single-channel video projection (Super 8 Ektachrome film transferred to video), 6′30”, silent, color

In Carta Abierta a Dr. Atl (Open Letter to Dr. Atl) the artist addresses an issue that evokes strong debates in the Mexican art scene: installing a Guggenheim Museum branch in the beautiful Mexican landscape Barranca de Oblatos, near the city of Guadalajara. By using the epistolary form in a video narrative, the artist addresses a fictitious letter to the Mexican painter Gerardo Murillo, “Dr. Atl” (1875-1964), displayed over film footage of the landscape where the museum should be raised and proposes the painter to imagine the results of such an aggressive intervention in this scenic canyon landscape that was often painted by the Dr.Atl himself. Mario García Torres used the epistolary form with free, direct, even intimate speech in order to openly question the repercussion of globalised cultural industry, its institutions, the influence it has on diverse local contexts, but also the need for a public discussion about it. The artistic practice of Mario García Torres often brings into being things that either happened in the past or could happen in the future in order to reinvent them, re-examine their impacts or bring into focus many possible readings and interpretations of the same.
MARIO GARCÍA TORRES (1975, Monclova, Coahuila, MX) received an MA from the Universidad de Monterrey, and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Some of his recent solo shows are Brief History of Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (Amsterdam), Some Stories that Went Missing, Kunsthalle Zurich (Zurich) and a self-titled show at White Cube (London). Among recent group shows are Think with the Senses - Feel with the Mind. 52 Biennale di Venezia (Venice), Martial Museum of Terrestrial Art, Barbican (London), Other Than Yourself - An Investigation, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (Vienna) and Die Wahrnehmung von Ideen Fuhrt zu neuen Ideen, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen (Düsseldorf). Among upcoming shows during 2008 are Time Crevasses, the Yokohama Biennale (Yokohama), The Sweet Burnt Smell of History - 8th Panama Biennial (Panama) and Early Color Video Tapes, a solo show at Proyectos Monclova (Mexico City). He recently organized The Title of This Show Is A List… at Jan Mot (Brussels). He is based in Los Angeles.

With the generous support of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna.