Photo reportage from Donna Huanca's exhibition at kim? Contemporary Art Centre

January 13, 2016
Author Echo Gone Wrong
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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

I clambered over mounds and mounds
Of polystyrene foam
And fell into a swimming pool
Filled with fairy snow
And watched the world turn day-glo
you know you know
The world turned day-glo you know
I wrenched the nylon curtains back
As far as they would go
And peered through plexi window panes
At the acrylic road
I drove my polypropylene
Car on wheels of sponge
Then pulled into a wimpy bar
To have a rubber bun
The X-rays were penetrating
Through the latex breeze
Synthetic fiber see-thru leaves
Fell from the rayon trees

The day the world turned day-glo, X-Ray Spex, 1978

Art in General, New York presents an exhibition “Poly Styrene’s Braces” by Donna Huanca in collaboration with kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Opening of the exhibition was accompanied by a performance by Donna Huanca. Curated by Anne Barlow. The exhibition is on display until 24th of January.

Donna Huanca is a Bolivian-American artist whose sculptures and installations are activated by live female performers that improvise and interact with the abstract assemblages. Huanca employs contentious signifiers of female power, such as cosmetics and textiles, to confront women’s constrained struggles to express sexuality, confidence, and power in a social realm. Previous exhibitions include Water Scars at Chez Valentin, Paris, France (2015); Muscle Memory, Peres Projects, Berlin, Germany (2015); Sade Room (formerly reclusive), MoMA PS1, New York, NY (2014); Seeing Auras at ltd, Los Angeles, CA (2014); and Raw Material at Malmö Konsthalle, Malmö, Sweden (2013). Awards and residencies include Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY (2015); Access Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (2013); Fulbright Scholarship (2012); Art Matters Grant (2010); and Swing Space, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY (2009). Huanca received a BFA in Painting from the University of Houston, Texas, USA, and studied at the Städelschule, Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt, Germany.

Supporters: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, United States Embassy in Riga, Trust for Mutual Understanding, kultura.lv, VKN, Absolut, Rīgas Laiks, Birzī, Valmiermuižas alus, Pieci.lv, Delfi.

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Perormance by Donna Huanca at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Hairy Boots, 2015. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Dino Shoes, 2015. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Polystyrene’s Braces installation view at kim?, 2015. Image courtesy the artist and kim? Contemporary Art Centre. Photo: Ansis Starks

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Donna Huanca. Landscape #1 (clavicle), 2015. Image courtesy the artist.

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Donna Huanca. Landscape #2 (crease), 2015. Image courtesy the artist.