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Ana Navas January, 2021
Ana Navas January, 2021 Quito, 1984 Lives and works in Amsterdam Working in different media like sculpture, video, painting and performance Ana Navas deals with processes as translation, assimilation and ap- propriation. She thinks very often of her praxis as going behind the traces of an object’s genealogical tree. What are its possible ancestors, influ- ences or new contexts in which it might reappear? Sometimes this approach can be real, historical, and other times, those connections are rather fictional ones. During her work process, the metaphor of a non-stop domino effect, where things and contents are constantly moving each other, is recurrent. Navas tries to stay far away of the idea of a zero point of creation, thus she questions terms strong related to art making as revolution, creativity or authorship. For her, art is a dialogue with strangers, but this dialogue does not only resonate to the direct participants of the artistic experience, but creates also a wider echo. One of the main questions in her work is how art is perceived and transformed outside the art context and what are the meeting points between different disciplines as ethnology / art / design / decoration and the relation between high and popular culture. She is interested in moments where these encounters, transformation, absorption and imitation are especially present. This is how in her work a wide variety of themes such as adolescence, forgery, amateur art, song covers or costumes become examples around the idea of willing to copy and to possess. Ana Navas often works in several series in parallel, which then connect in an installation situation unfolding the conceptual relations those se- ries have to each other. Aiming to be consequent on her focus on transformation, she understands the exhibition situation as an ‘essay’ moment and not a definite one. This means, the works are understood as modules, which can be reused for new pieces, reappear in another constellations, turn from piece to display or adopt a different meaning each time they are shown.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021 Rarely True “Power dressing” describes an 80’s fashion trend that focused in supporting the executive woman aiming to “break through the glass ceiling”. Vari- ous best seller books of the time offered advice on how to dress appropriately to blend in companies sectors dominated by the opposite gender. This project reinterprets this advice in a series of assemblages, each containing a central element: either a key component from these fashion con- sultancies (as, for example, the pussy bow) or a fictional accessory – nonexistent in the market but aligned with this trend’s negotiation (as, for ex- ample, foam’s shapes to hide the waist or “sideburns” jewelry to be attached to the ear) -. These central elements are placed on two-dimensional col- lage-like surfaces, where Navas experiments with textiles, patterns, domestic objects and other significant references for her research.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Rarely true, 2019
Exhibition view
Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank,
Netherlands
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Rarely true, 2019
Exhibition view
Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank,
Netherlands
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Rarely true, 2019
Exhibition view
Kunstruimte De Nederlandsche Bank,
Netherlands
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Waistpads (after Moore), 2018
PVC, acrylic, textile, plastic
140 x 100 cm
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Patilleras, 2018
Carpets, cardboard, textile, leather, silver
130 x 104 cm
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Iron, 2018
PVC, acrylic, metal, textile, ceramics
195 x 62 cm
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
United, 2018
Mat, plaster, textile, paper, metal, bullet-
proof vest, piercing
193 x 65 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Pyramid, 2018
Fabric, hair, silk paint, bread, epoxy
145 x 155 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Nuez de Adan, 2018
Fabric, silicone, plastic, silver
147 x 82 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Muy agradecida, 2018
Fabric, a.o fabric used for seats in busses
272 x 295 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021 I had to think of you I had to think of you is a solo exhibition, in which Navas organizes recent and past work according to trends for food franchising image design. The entrance at the Stadtgalerie Sindelfingen’s works as an introduction into the subjects she approaches across the show, such as ethnography, decora- tion, and gastronomy. Inside the museum’s central spaces she recreates different atmospheres according to image design trends categorized as Mod- ern, Minimal, Urban & Nature. The remaining two spaces merge a series of large paintings of noodles, different music styles and a video projection. In the projection, Navas pre- pares noodle dough on a Verner Panton’s style children’s chair while an audio piece plays short extracts from diverse versions (bachata, techno, among others) of a single song: Unchained Melody. Bringing back through the melody the memory of a well-known Hollywood scene - Demi Moore making pottery in the 90’s romantic fantasy thriller Ghost - the process of preparing noodle’s dough showed in her video can be read as a sculptural moment.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
I had to think of you, 2017
Exhibition view
Stadtgalerie Sindelfingen, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Noodles, 2017
Glazed ceramic, papier-mache, steel, wood
83 x 140 x 70 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
I had to think of you, 2017
Exhibition view
Stadtgalerie Sindelfingen, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
I had to think of you, 2017
Exhibition view
Stadtgalerie Sindelfingen, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
I had to think of you, 2017
Exhibition view
Stadtgalerie Sindelfingen, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021 To cut one’s hair by the moon To cut one’s hair by the moon presented at 45 cbm Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, in which Navas exhibited the body of work produced between two haircuts. Crucial elements of different series are organized as a Gesamtkunstwerk in a densely composed installation that unfolds reflections on design, cultural trends and authorship. Presidents, the first piece of a long-term project, is a central element in the installation. The name of every current head of state in the world is written on a rice grain and placed on a girl’s garment. Each garment consists of a collage of fashion trends observed during the piece’s production year (during 2017, in the case of the mentioned edition). Navas is committed to produce a new piece for this series under the same principles ev- ery 4/5 years (according to an average presidential period) over the entire course of her life. On the walls, leather numbers form the year 2059, in which, according to current life expectancy, her death would take place.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
To cut one’s hair by the moon, 2018
Exhibition view
Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 45
cbm, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Presidents, 2018 - ongoing
Ink on rice grains, children’ clothes, plinth
Variable dimensionsAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
To cut one’s hair by the moon, 2018
Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 45
cbm, GermanyAna Navas Project selection January, 2021 Placing a mirror at the entry area is a gracious way to welcome wealth in Placing a mirror at the entry area is a gracious way to welcome wealth in is an installation composed by different bodies of work. The central one corresponds to a series on forges titled A fake crocodile can make you cry real tears. Departing from different platforms (such as online forums), which provide keys to distinguish fake products from original ones, Navas creates an archive of inaccuracies. Then, she uses these “mistakes” - for example “patterns do not continue aligned in the textile’s seam” or “molding flash remains visible in the final positive form” - as instructions to produce sculptural elements. A publication (designed with Santiago da Silva) reveals the collection of errors from which the works originally took their shape.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Placing a mirror at the entry area is a gra-
cious way to welcome wealth in, 2016
Exhibition view
P/////AKT Amsterdam, NetherlandsAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Placing a mirror at the entry area is a gra-
cious way to welcome wealth in, 2016
Exhibition view
P/////AKT Amsterdam, NetherlandsAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Placing a mirror at the entry area is a gra-
cious way to welcome wealth in, 2016
Exhibition view
P/////AKT Amsterdam, NetherlandsAna Navas Project selection January, 2021 Excuses Ana Nava’s artistic practice often focuses on an object’s genealogy, as that object transits different usages and stages of interest through different disciplines, such as art and design. Considering everyday objects that are close to me, such as the luggage trolley, the easel, and domestic items like the ironing board, she creates a collection of textile costumes specifically designed for them. She uses some of those costumes to explore a particu- lar artist’s oeuvre that might have influenced the object’s design, or which have addressed an art historical movement or realm, such as public art. Beyond these original associative references, the costume collection that results from this process aims to create a variety of characters embodying notions related to taste.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Sumas y restas, 2019
Exhibition view
lnstituto Cultural de Leon, Guanajuato,
MexicoAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Sumas y restas, 2019
Exhibition view
lnstituto Cultural de Leon, Guanajuato,
MexicoAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Budhas en nanas, 2019
Jug stand, vynil, fabric, imitation jewellery,
sponges
62 x 37 x 125 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Peceras, 2019
Cloth rack, fabric, plastic and acrylic paint
42 x 80 x 169 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Hi Donalds, 2019
Suitcase, fabric, napkin holders, imitation
jewellery, acrylic paint
25 x 39 x 98 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Excusas (Meret y Henry), 2019
Ironing board, fabric, acrylic paint
42 x 123 x 82 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021 I don’t care if this has been standing here for centuries, it’s ruining my zen garden Departing from the question: how would the mental image of the word “sculpture” look like? Navas reviews sculptures’ depictions such as props for theater, amateur books on learning to sculpt or publicity for sculptors’ supplies. By creating groups through their formal similarities she formed different archetypes, which then she sculpts using paper maché and Styrofoam. The series Yet far more often than these text based pieces, one would play pure melodies on the mouth organ II, in which Navas recreates objects based purely on their audio guides’ descriptions from ethnographic museums, and a grill covered in paper maché are often placed alongside the sculptures in the space. These two external elements elicit associations of the archetypes, not only with sculptural, but also with “primitive” as well as with design language.
Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Offspring, 2014
Exhibition view
De Ateliers Amsterdam, NetherlandsAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Nespresso, 2014
Styrofoam and Papier Mache
120 x 150 x 80 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Object for backdrop, 2014
Styrofoam and Papier Mache
90 x 150 x 60 cm, 2014Ana Navas Project selection January, 2021
Elegance (Sarah-Jane), 2014
Styrofoam and Papier Mache
150 x 165 x 115 cmAna Navas Project selection January, 2021
Yin-Yang, 2014
Styrofoam and Papier Mache
Variable measuresAna Navas CV January, 2021
Ana Navas len, The Netherlands Netherlands NAP II (in collaboration with Nadia Naveau),
Quito, 1984 Tegenboschvavreden, Amsterdam, The Nether-
2018 I Don’t Careif This Has Been Standing Here lands
STUDIES Medias de repuesto en gaveta de escritorio, For Centuries, It’s Ruining My Zen Garden,
Master’s degree in Fine Arts, Academy of Fine Ladrón, Mexico City, Mexico Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Kiosko, Fundación Alumnos 47, Mexico City,
Arts Karlsruhe, 2010 - 2011, Karlsruhe, Ger- Germany Mexico
many To Cut One’s Hair by the Mooon, Staat-
liche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 45cbm, GROUP SHOWS (selection) Callar la protesta, La Fortaleza, Mexico City,
Bachelor in Fine Arts (Diploma), Academy of Baden-Baden,Germany 2020 - 2021 Mexico
Fine Arts Karlsruhe, 2004 - 2010, Karlsruhe, She Spins the Thread, She Measures the Thread,
Germany 2017 She Cuts the Thread, NEST, The Hague, The Still Water. Politiken des Wassers, Hospitalhof
I Had to Think of You, Galerie der Stadt Sin- Netherlands Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
SOLO SHOWS (selection) delfingen, Sindelfingen, Germany
2020 2020 Primitivo fallido, Los 14, Mexico City, Mexico
Caracol, Sagrada Mercancía, Santiago de Chile, 2016 Etwas mehr als Arbeit, Kunstverein Göttingen,
Chile Placing aMirror at the Entry Area Is aGracious Göttingen, Germany 2017
Way to Welcome Wealth In, P/////AKT, Plat- 15 / Love, De School, Amsterdam, The Neth-
2019 form for contemporary art, Amsterdam, The Al aire, libre (curated by Tiago Pinto), online erlands
El barro, la culebra y sus principios, Crisis, Netherlands project
Lima, Peru Humble, Garage, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2015 2019
To Roll (One’s) Sleeves Up, Tegenboschvavre- Sometimes, When I Am Alone, I Use Comic Sumas y restas (in collaboration with Kiko Espejo negro, elefante blanco, El cuarto de
den, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Sans, Tegenboschvavreden, Amsterdam, The Pérez), Instituto Culturalde León, Leon, Mex- máquinas, Mexico City, Mexico
Netherlands ico
Ich traute mich, sie zurückzugeben, weil sie nich Correspondencias de Ultramar#4, Sala Mendo-
bissfest waren, Sperling, Munich, Germany Ornament (?), Made of Feathers, String, Stride El Nudo, Carreras Mugica, Bilbao, SpainYoga za, Caracas, Venezuela
On Projects, Karlsruhe, Germany to Go, Die Putte, Ulm, Germany
Rarely True, De Nederlandsche Bank, Amster- Amethyst Babyccino(in collaboration with Dan-
dam, The Netherlands 2014 2018 iela Baldelli), Rinomina, Paris, France
TJusto x Bueno, Binario, Bogota, Colombia
13 Is a Lucky Number, SCHUNCK*, Heer- Offspring 2014, De Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Puras cosas nuevas, Pantalla Blanca, MexicoAna Navas CV January, 2021
City, Mexico poca, Romania Stipend of the Kunststiftung Baden-Württem- Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores, Mexico
berg, Stuttgart, Germany City, Mexico, 2015
Breve, Abra Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela New Harmony (in collaboration with Sara
Wahl), Im Hinterzimmer, Karlsruhe, Germa- Stipend of the Landesgraduiertenförderung CEAAC (CentreEuropéen d’Actions Artis-
2016 ny Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany tiques Contemporaines), Strasbourg, France,
Early Spring, Gallery Tegenboschvavreden, 2015
Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2014 Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes,
Eau de Cologne, Kunstverein Amsterdam, Oaxaca, Mexico De Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
Apartment Group Show, Apartment_19, Karl- Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2012
sruhe, Germany RESIDENCIES
The Hidden Picture, Cobra Museum Am- Currently, Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, Forumkunst, Regional Council’s Art Grant,
Rompeflasche, Centro de Arte Contemporá- stelveen, Amstelveen, The Netherlands France Karlsruhe, Germany, 2012
neo, Quito, Ecuador
Summer In the City, Gallery Tegenboschvavre- Sagrada Mercancía, Santiago de Chile, Chile,
15 años de intercambio, ENPEG La Esmeral- den, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2020
da, Mexico City, Mexico
Easily Broken, Gallery Tegenboschvavreden, Granero –CHARCO, Leon, Mexico, 2019
St:rung, Akku, Stuttgart, Germany Amsterdam, The Netherlands EMPAC –Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(research residency), New York, USA, 2019
2015 GRANTS
Objects Foods Rooms, Galería Proyecto Parale- NN Art Award, NN Group, The Netherlands SCHUNCK (with the supportMondriaan
lo, Mexico City, Mexico Fonds), Heerlen, The Netherlands
KalinowskiGrant, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Ger-
Velada de Santa Lucía Remix, Hamburg, Ger- many Escuela Flora Arts Natura (with the support-
many Mondriaan Fonds), Bogota, Colombia, 2018
Salón de Jóvenes con FIA XVIII (Honorable
Salón de Jóvenes con FIA XVIII, Centro de Mention), Caracas, Venezuela Cité International des Arts, Paris, France,
Arte Los Galpones, Caracas, Venezuela 2017
Stipend of the Dutch Ministry of Education,
Tofu Absorbs Flavor (a project by Daniel Jacoby Culture and Science, Denmark Goethe Institut, Salvador de Bahía, Brazil,
and Gerard Ortín), Gallery Sabot, Cluj-Na- 2016You can also read
