Alejandro Diaz: Blame it on Mexico
February 21 to June 7, 2009
Curator: Mónica Ramírez—Montagut
Come to Connecticut and see the World’s Largest Cardboard Sign created by artist Alejandro Diaz. The object—Guinness Record pending—stands 10 feet tall, measures 12 feet across, weighs 200 pounds, and will be on view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum through June 7, 2009.
Alejandro Diaz’s satirical new exhibition, Blame it on Mexico, uses humor to draw attention to the imbedded cultural stereotypes with which he is familiar from his bicultural Mexican/Texan upbringing, as well as from his more recent experiences in the contemporary art world.
At The Aldrich, Diaz will show various large- and small—scale language-related works created between 2003 and 2009, including selections from his acclaimed campy/political cardboard signs series. Diaz explains that the World’s Largest Cardboard Sign is exactly what it says it is. This object speaks directly to a Texan sensibility, where everything is really big and record-breaking objects are heralded at the roadside. This particular sign also references the Pop art period, when artists were super—sizing everyday objects both in the service of creating new art and to deliver a post-modern, self-referential perspective.
The exhibition title, Blame it on Mexico, is a good example of the duality that exists in much of the work on view. Diaz explains, “The title alludes to a humorous country/western song, but at the same time functions as a more serious political commentary, addressing issues surrounding the border’such as the blame that the United States has placed on Mexico regarding drug trafficking and undocumented workers.”
Diaz has elaborated on the cardboard series by creating neon, vinyl, and fabric signs, as well as multi—media installations involving birdcages, plastic cacti, and a life—size diorama for making tortillas. However, humor permeates the exhibition, with other cardboard signs featuring clever phrases like “Mexicans without Borders”; “In the Future Everyone will be Famous for $15.00”; “By Disappointment Only”; and “Happiness is Expensive.”
Curator Mónica Ramírez—Montagut explains, “Diaz’s work focuses direct attention on serious matters with great wit. This type of commentary, which ordinarily instigates confrontation, is presented in a way that will encourage visitors to reconsider their reactions.”
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Alejandro Diaz: Blame it on Mexico
Alejandro Diaz, Jesus/Cheeses (installation view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield), 2009
Courtesy of the artist and The Happy Lion, Los Angeles
Alejandro Diaz: Blame it on Mexico
Alejandro Diaz, World’s Largest Cardboard Sign (installation view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield), 2009
Courtesy of the artist and The Happy Lion, Los Angeles
Alejandro Diaz: Blame it on Mexico
Alejandro Diaz, Make Your Own Damn Tortillas (installation view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield), 2009
Courtesy of the artist and The Happy Lion, Los Angeles
The Artist:
Alejandro Diaz was born in Texas and lives and works in New York. He received a BFA from University of Texas at Austin and an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York. In 2003, Diaz created a major installation for the Havana Biennial, I ♥ Cuba, an installation of free souvenir items emblazoned with the artist’s twist on the familiar New York slogan. In 2006 he was commissioned by the Public Art Fund, New York’s premier presenter of public art, to create 4 large—scale sculptures for the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. In 2008, Diaz was the recipient of the prestigious Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and participated in a major group exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, which will travel to Mexico City, Houston, and New York. Other group exhibitions include Ceci N’est Pas, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York; Body Double, Forum + Elzbieta Koscielak Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland; Light /Art: Mystic, Crystal, Revelation, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum; Works on Paper Biennial, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; Four Freedoms, Marin Art Gallery, Muhlenburg College, Allenstown, PA; Apropiaciones, KBK Galleria Contemporanea, Mexico City; and Never Leaving Atzlan, Museo de Las Americas, Denver. Solo exhibitions include those at ArtPace, San Antonio; Sala Diaz, San Antonio; Jessica Murray Projects, NY; and the Fuller Art Museum, Brockton, MA. Diaz has lectured at the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Drawing Center, NY. His work has been reviewed in publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Flash Art, and Frieze. Alejandro Diaz is represented by The Happy Lion, Los Angeles.
The Aldrich is supported, in part, by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
Alejandro Diaz, World’s Largest Cardboard Sign (installation view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield), 2008. Courtesy of the artist and The Happy Lion, Los Angeles
