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From 5 November - 19 December 2008, the Museo Regional "El Aguacate” in Durango, Mexico, will host the famous Dutch artist’s, Jackie Sleper, touring exhibition "Dulce y Amargo" inspired by, and dedicated to, Mexico and the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and curated by Matty Roca.
Jackie Sleper, the winner of the section “Sculpture and Installation” at the Florence Biennale 2007, has always been fascinated by Mexico and the artist Frida Kahlo, for whom she has a profound admiration and so, when she received an offer from Matty Roca to depict her vision of Mexico she readily accepted. Over the course of the following two years, Jackie Sleper spent many months in situ, about which she says “I took in everything around me, spoke with lots of people and, in particular, got a sense of the country. My previous love of Mexico only grew stronger."
Her works are at times reminiscent of a variety of artists: Rivera, Orozco, Tamayo and Pollock. Jackie Sleper assumes absolute freedom in applying various techniques and introducing experimental elements: her work is characterised by combinations of photography and painting, and the use of mixed media. In addition to painting, Jackie also creates objects using a variety of materials, which she then transforms into wholly a new and surprising entity, such a the wonderful and fun piece “Rocatizada”, dedicated to her curator Matty Roca. The artist other works to be guided by a profound sense of humanity, and she is an artist in the truest sense of the word, her work has always been grounded in her exploration of the human existence and its significance. The art critic, Wim Van der Beek said about Jackie’s work prior to her 2007 Netherlands exhibition: “Jackie Sleper’s aim is not to shock, but to make things tangible and manageable. She does not want to magnify injustices, but to offer solutions in the form of positive and unorthodox ways of seeing.”
The Durango show is the fourth and last step in 2008 of Jackie’s touring exhibition and she is delighted to be holding in a city which she feels has a close link with her own home town of Utrecht. The museum, "El Aguacate”, is known by this name Aguacate, or avocado, due to the avocado tree planted in the garden. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city centre, built in 1890 and was the residence of the family of Francisco Gomez Palacio, son of the famous governor.
Jackie’s exhibitions showing throughout Mexico in 2008 and 2009 are all being curated by Matty Roca, art historian, museum curator and art critic. They have so far been a huge success, the first was held at the Museo de la Cultura Maya in Chetumal in March and April of this year, in May-June at the Museo de la Isla in Cozumel, and most recently at the Museum of Modern Art of Gómez Palacio in July and August.
The artist will, as always, be present at the vernissage of "Dulce y Amargo" on 5 November, at the Museo El Aguacate, along with important local personalities from the political, cultural and educational scene in Mexico and from the Dutch and European communities living in the state of Durango.
Jackie Sleper was born in Amsterdam and studied at the Utrecht Academy for Visual Arts. Between 1988 and 1995 she spent time in Ireland, Spain and Prague for study purposes. Works produced in her home country, the Netherlands, include a tile plateau in honour of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, commissioned by the municipality of Utrecht, and ‘light objects’ for the Kruisheren Hotel, a design establishment that opened in Maastricht in 2005. Outside the Netherlands, she has exhibited in Antwerp (Art-Event), Stockholm (Art Fair), Marbella (Marb Art – Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo), Geneva (Europ’Art), Klagenfurt (Biennale Austria), Salzburg (Mozart Festival), Florence (Museo Diocesano and Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea), Milan (Studio D’Ars), New York (Carrozzini Von Buhler Gallery and CVB Space), and in Mexico. One of her sculptures, "Modestia", was exhibited during the Venice Biennale, at Open 2007. She won the 1st prize for “Sculpture and Installation” at the Florence Biennale 2007.
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