Curating as a contextual practice
Looking back at past curatorial projects, I see a mix of personal choices and randomness. Some happened because I pursued them, and others just by chance or friendship. There is a “certain lack of coherence” that I can’t deny; maybe due to a personal inability for hyper-specialization, or just because of curiosity… Thinking of how I might respond to this Invitation, of sorts, there’s one place where some common ground to the exhibitions and books that I intend to show might be found: context. Context as a framework for curating and researching, but also as a pre-condition that shapes desires, struggles, and shared concerns.
Pedro de Llano is an art historian and curator currently based in Los Angeles. Recent projects include the mid-career retrospective of Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo in Seville (currently on view), and Drifting Home: Bas Jan Ader at Meliksetian | Briggs in L.A. He has organized group shows such as Disparity and Demand (La Galerie, Noisy-le-Sec, 2014), Loretta Fahrenholz & Reena Spaulings (Galería Bacelos, Madrid, 2013), The Black Whale (MARCO de Vigo, 2012), and El medio es el museo (MARCO de Vigo y Koldo Mitxelena, San Sebastián, 2008). His texts have been published in Afterall Online, Carta, Exit Express, Springerin, Texte zur Kunst, and the newspaper La Vanguardia (Barcelona).