Ivan Navarro

Skira and Galerie Templon have partnered to publish a monograph about Iván Navarro’s public work and site-specific installations.

This unprecedented monograph comprises four main chapters, each introduced by one major public installation and some further works which deal with the same problematics. This book focuses on political and social critique, a major subject in Navarro’s work. It aims to show the essential role played by both the public space and visitors in the perception of these artworks.

To quote the artist: “I have always thought that art is first and foremost an original form of communication and not of expression as the main component. For this reason, I am extremely interested in the work being read short- or long-term. I believe the communicative success of a work of art lies in its being able to be translated to the public in a transcendental manner. Obviously, there are some works that are easier to interpret than others. But that is a political problem, because it will depend on the level of education or the cultural baggage of the public […]

Art is cultivated socially and personally, and to gain the most benefit from it we must squeeze the best meanings or connections that we have and that it provokes in us out of our minds. It also includes a few opening texts to the different chapters, including by world-acclaimed architect Dominique Perrault.”

About the Artist

IVÁN NAVARRO: born in 1972 in Santiago (Chili), Iván Navarro grew up under the Pinochet dictatorship. He has lived and worked in New York since 1997. Iván Navarro uses light as his raw material, turning objects into electric sculptures and transforming the exhibition space by means of visual interplay. His work is certainly playful, but is also haunted by questions of power, control and imprisonment.

About the Contributors

JOSÉ-MANUEL GONÇALVÈS: director of Centquatre-Paris, José-Manuel Gonçalvès is also co-director of the Grand Paris Express' artistic and cultural project since 2015. For the eight upcoming years, he will be in charge of the programmation, implementation and animation of the cultural project developped by the Société du Grand Paris.

ALFREDO JAAR : born in 1956 in Santiago (Chili), Alfredo Jaar lives and works in New York (United States). He has developed a body of photographic, cinematographic, and installation work since the 1980s. His training as an architect is evident in his visual work, which is notable for the use of photographs in installations that attest to his mastery of the space.

PABLO LEÓN DE LA BARRA : commanding Museu de Art Contemporanea Niteroi, his spaceshiplike museum across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, Pablo León de la Barra has long been regarded as a conduit to the South American art scene.