October–December, 2016
Atelier Mondial
Freilager-Platz 10
Münchenstein, 4053
Switzerland
davidoffartinitiative.com
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Puerto Rican artist Michael Linares has been selected as the artist-in-residence for the 2016 Davidoff Art Residency at Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland. The residency is a collaboration with the Institute of Art at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design, under the guidance of Chus Martínez, Institute Head. Linares is the second artist to participate in the Basel residency which was launched in 2015.
Linares’ practice spans installation, assemblage, sculpture, video, and painting. He seeks to explore possibilities for new relationships between audiences and artworks, as well as those between objects and signifiers. In his work, Linares disrupts what is perceived to be common sense in order to create unexpected combinations and experiences that foster new aesthetic and intellectual understandings and test the dynamic between the viewer and the artwork. The viewer’s role in the production of meaning is of central concern to the artist. His works are not static, but rather are meant to function as vehicles for changing experiences that continue to be redefined. During his time at Atelier Mondial, Linares will expand upon his body of work, which unites the foreign with the familiar and examines the multivalent ways that art can be experienced.
About the artist
Michael Linares lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He holds a BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas de San Juan Sculpture, and is pursuing his MA in archeology at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y El Caribe. Linares is the founder of La Sonora (2010-present), a free online audiotheque that contains translations of texts relevant to contemporary art discourse and culture, most of which did not previously exist in Spanish. He has been featured in many international exhibitions including the Sao Paulo Biennial in 2016, An Aleatory History of the Stick at Art in General in New York in 2015, and Useless, curated by Pablo Leon de la Barra, at the PINTA Art Fair in London in 2010, among others. In 2017, Linares will be taking part in the group exhibition, A Universal History of Infamy at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA),
About the Davidoff Art Initiative
The Davidoff Art Initiative supports contemporary art and artists in the Caribbean, strengthens art organizations, and fosters cultural engagement between the Caribbean and the rest of the world. It brings opportunity and visibility to the art and culture of the wider Caribbean region, including the Dominican Republic, where much of Davidoff’s production and many of the employees are based, and extending the company’s long-standing commitment to artistry, craftsmanship, community and quality. The Davidoff Art Initiative’s four global program areas are: Art Residency, Art Dialogues, Art Grants, and Art Editions.
About Atelier Mondial
Atelier Mondial aims to specifically promote intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue about art, as well as the development of a sustainable network based on interest and friendship between artists from different countries and cultures.
Atelier Mondial’s comprehensive program include providing the art scene of the Basel Region, Southern Baden and the Alsace with important impulses; promoting contact between artists from different countries and cultures; and making a lasting contribution to the personal and professional experience of artists.
About FHNW Academy of Art and Design
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Academy of Art and Design (HGK). The Basel School of Design and its students have influenced the international Graphic Design community since the 1960’s. It is part of an international network of Art and Design Schools that provides many opportunities for students and faculty to participant in global discourses within and beyond their artistic borders.
Media contacts
For further information, images, or to arrange an interview please contact:
Blue Medium, Inc.: Elisabeth Meddin or Kat Mills, [email protected], [email protected], T +1 212 675 1800
Oettinger Davidoff AG: Albertine Kopp, Manager Davidoff Art Initiative, [email protected]
