Press Release: Inigo Manglano-Ovalle

New Works: 97.4
11.15.97

THE INTERNATIONAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

New Works: 97.4

Nate Cassie, SAN ANTONIO, TX

I–igo Manglano-Ovalle, CHICAGO, IL

Hale Tenger, ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Exhibition: December 11, 1997 ?nuary 11, 1998

The International Artist-in-Residence Program, sponsored by ArtPace, A Foundation
for Contemporary Art | San Antonio presents New Works: 97.4, a series of
installations by artists living and working at ArtPace. Nate Cassie, I–igo Manglano-
Ovalle and Hale Tenger were selected by the March 1996 IAIR Program Panel consisting
of Elizabeth Armstrong, David Avalos, Dana Friis-Hansen, Thelma Golden and Maaretta
Jaukkuri. Work produced by the artists during their eight-week residency will open to the
public on Thursday, December 11, 1997.

I–igo Manglano-Ovalle

Chicago-based I–igo Manglano-Ovalle was born in 1961 in Madrid and raised in Spain,
Colombia and Chicago, IL. Manglano-Ovalle holds a B.A. in Latin American and
Spanish literature from Williams College and a M.F.A. from the School of the Art
Institute of Chicago. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including fellowships from
the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Chicago, and the Illinois Arts Council.
Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary
Art, Fiegen Inc., Rhona Hoffman Gallery, the Chicago Art Fair, and Sculpture Chicago.
Manglano-Ovalle has also exhibited at the Instituto Cultural Caba–as Museum,
Guadalajara, Mexico; Center for Contemporary Arts, Cincinnati; Galerie Froment et
Putnam, Paris; Revolution, Detroit; Real Art Ways, Hartford; Andrea Rosen Gallery,
New York; the Warehouse Project, Miami; and New Langton Arts, San Francisco.

Manglano-Ovalle's work consistently draws its content from the public realm.
Whether working with DNA samples, low-rider car clubs, custom car stereos, firearms
and ballistic gelatin, the artist reduces form and content to solid, minimal elements that
address social and political issues.

At ArtPace, Manglano-Ovalle has responded to the distinctive symmetry of Studio A,
creating a "mirrored" installation entitled The El Ni–o Effect. Twin sensory
depravation tanks anchor the large, brightly-lit space, with a New Age
soundtrack?ually, the digitized sound of a 9mm. gunshot, manipulated and repeated
until it sounds like a summer rainstorm. To the rear of the exhibition space are two
changing rooms, complete with working showers. In the changing rooms are small video
monitors, which play a continuous time-lapse loop of clouds, moving back and forth
across the U.S./Mexico border. Referencing migration and pilgrimage, religion and
geopolitics, public and private space, mental and physical health, The El Ni–o Effect is a
complex installation that invites public interaction in museum-meets-spa environs.

The public is invited to float in the depravation tanks; the artist requires that people
participate in pairs: a husband and wife, lovers, two friends, etc. Sessions last 1 1/2
hours. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance and a consent and release form
must be signed.

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org