This week, during the fairs in Mexico City, kurimanzutto debuts a new kind of program for 2020. Disrupting the demands of the typical exhibition calendar, founders Mónica Manzutto and José Kuri have chosen to present solo shows by artists across seven separate spaces within the gallery for one full year.
To learn more about this updated model, Whitewaller spoke with José Kuri.
Mónica Manzutto and José KuriPhoto by Pia Riverola
WHITEWALLER: Can you tell us about what made you want to change up the programming at the gallery for 2020?
JOSÉ KURI: After 20 years of having the gallery, it was time for us to reimagine our own times and processes based on the artists ways of working and creating—not necessarily responding to the demanding calendar of the market and the art world.
Mónica Manzutto and José KuriPhoto by Pia Riverola
WW: What can we expect from “Siembra (Sowing),” the one exhibition hosted for all of 2020?
JK: “Siembra” is an experiment for us to propose a different way to relate to time—for ourselves and the team. We are questioning how we exist and inhabit the art world. We expect a multiplicity of questions around what we do and why. Art gives you questions, not answers.
WW: Who are the artists that will participate?
JK: The artists of the first “Siembra” are Eduardo Abaroa, Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Minerva Cuevas, Daniela Rossell and Galen Jackson, Dr. Lakra, Gabriel Orozco, and Haegue Yang.
WW: Do you see this as a time of experimentation for the gallery model?
JK: We wish to experiment in order to find our place naturally. Ideas of permaculture and agriculture have risen from this more organic way of thinking about time. One cannot pressure a plant to grow or to relate to another species. It must be given time and patience for the benefit of the larger ecosystem. This is what makes biodiversity so important at this time when it can feel more like a race than a community.
WW: How does it impact, if at all, your participation in fairs internationally?
JK: For a couple of years, we have been doing less art fairs, concentrating more on the work of the artists and the needs of the gallery. However, we live in an interconnected world, so we will continue to participate in the systems in place.
WW: Can you tell us about what you’ll be presenting at ZⓈONAMACO this year?
JK: We want to focus on artists working and living in Mexico, but also on those who keep a close relationship with the country.
WW: Outside of the fair and gallery, what are you looking forward to seeing and doing around Mexico City in February?
JK: We love our city. It can be chaotic but it works. No one fully understands how. There is an explosion of artist-run and independent spaces that are not to be missed, alongside the lager blockbuster events.
