Juan Downey
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Juan Downey (May 11, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was a
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
an artist who was a pioneer in the fields of
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
and
interactive art Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...
.


Early life and education

Downey was born in Santiago, Chile.Juan Downey, 53, A Pioneer Of Video as a Medium for Art - NYTimes.com
/ref> His father, David Downey V., was a distinguished architect in Chile, and following in his father's footsteps, Juan Downey studied to complete a Bachelor of Architecture in 1964 from the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile. In 1961, to further his studies and develop his artistic practice, Downey traveled to Europe. He spent a few months in Barcelona and Madrid, followed by Paris, where he lived for three years studying printmaking at Stanley William Hayter's legendary Atelier 17. During that time, he befriended artists Eugenio Téllez,
Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (; November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), usually known simply as Matta, also as Sebastián Matta or Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known Painting, painters and a seminal figure in 20th ...
, Julio Le Parc, and
Takis Takis may refer to: * Takis (snack), a spicy, roll-shaped snack * Takis Christoforidis, a Greek actor * Takis Fotopoulos, a Greek political philosopher * Takis Ikonomopoulos, a Greek football player * Takis Kanellopoulos a Greek film director * Tak ...
. In 1965, Downey traveled to Washington, D.C., at the invitation of the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
to present a solo show of his work. It was there that Downey would meet his future wife, Marilys Belt. Downey stayed in Washington for a couple of years before moving with his family to New York in 1969. Downey was an associate professor of art at the
Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
in New York from 1970 until 1993. He died in New York on June 9, 1993, as a result of cancer.


Career

In New York, Downey would become involved with the groups Radical Software and Raindance collective, both of them early proponents of using video for artistic and political means.Juan Downey - Exhibition at Tate Modern , Tate
/ref> Downey is recognized as a pioneer and early adopter of video art, but during his artistic career, he created an extensive body of work that also includes electronic and video sculptures, photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, performance, installation, and writing. Downey's drawings are especially remarkable and remained a constant practice of his. All of his major works were accompanied by drawings. They reflect not only his “sureness of hand,” as curators David Ross and James Harithas noted, but also his compelling ideas and visions, and they reveal a sustained practice of drawing over a lifetime. The early period of Juan Downey's artistic practice consisted of painting, drawing, writing, and printmaking. After moving to the United States in 1965, he began to experiment with numerous forms of art that included creating interactive electronic sculptures, performances, happenings, and, in the late 1960s, video art. He wrote: “The universe is not an assemblage of independent parts, but an overlapping, interrelated system of energy. All my work relates to this vision.” These media permitted Downey to investigate ideas about invisible energy as well as to invite active participation by viewers of his work. Two seminal series in Downey's career were ''Video Trans Americas'', begun in 1971, and ''The Thinking Eye'', begun in the mid-1970s. ''Video Trans Americas'' (VTA.) is often divided into two groups: the first group was developed from 1973 to 1976, and the second from 1976 to 1977. The two series stress Downey's preoccupation with political discourse, the self, the history of art, Western civilization, and Latin American identity.


Exhibitions


Solo exhibitions

Solo exhibitions featuring Juan Downey's work include: * ''Juan Downey: Audio-Kinetic Electronic Sculptures'', The
Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...
in Washington DC, (1968); * ''With Energy Beyond These Walls'', Howard Wise Gallery, New York, NY, (1970); * ''Video Trans Americas'', Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, TX, (1976); * ''Juan Downey: Video Trans Americas'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, (1976); * ''Video Trans Americas'', Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY (1977); * ''Juan Downey: New American Filmmaker Series'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1978); * ''Juan Downey'', Matrix/Berkeley 16, University Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (1978); * ''Une Forêt 'Videoformes': Retrospective Juan Downey'', Festival de la Création Vidéo, Clermont-Ferrand, France (1993); * ''Juan Downey: Instalaciones, Dibujos y Videos'', Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago (1995), Chile; * ''Juan Downey: Con energía más allá de estos muros'', Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Centre del Carme, Valencia, Spain (1997–98); * ''Retrospectiva de Video Arte de Juan Downey'', Museo de Arte Moderno de Chiloé, Castro, Chiloé, Chile (2000); * ''Plateau of Humankind'', Honorable Mention: “Excellence in Art Science and Technology,”
49th Venice Biennale The 49th Venice Biennale, held in 2001, was an exhibition of international contemporary art, with 65 participating nations. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Prizewinners of the 49th Biennale included: Richard Serra a ...
Chilean Pavilion, Venice, Italy (2001); * ''Juan Downey: El ojo pensante, Sala de Arte Fundación Telefónica'', Santiago, Chile (2010); * ''Juan Downey: The Invisible Architect'', MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY (2011-2012) * ''Juan Downey una utopía de la comunicación'', Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City (2013)


Group exhibitions

Downey's work was included in numerous group exhibitions as follows. * ''Some More Beginnings: An Exhibition of Submitted Works Involving Technical Materials and Processes'', organized by Experiments in Art and Technology, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum, Brookly, NY and The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (1968); * ''New Learning Spaces & Places'',
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...
, Minneapolis, MN (1974); * ''Whitney Biennial Exhibition'', Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1975, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991); * ''Documenta 6'', Kassel, Germany, (1977); * ''Venice Biennale'', ''US Pavilion'', Venice, Italy, (1980); * ''Sydney Biennale'', Sydney, Australia, (1982); * ''II Bienal de La Habana'', Havana, Cuba, (1986); * ''The Thinking Eye'', International Center for Photography, New York, NY, (1987); * ''Passages de l’image'', Musée national d'Art moderne- Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, (1990); * ''Video Art: The First 25 Years'', The Museum of Modern Art, and The American Federation of Arts, New York, NY, (1995); * ''Info Art ’95'', Kwangju Biennale, Kwangju, Korea, (1995); * ''Electronic Highways'', The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, (1997); * ''Rational/Irrational'',
Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of World Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societi ...
, Berlin, Germany, (2008-2009) * '' The Looking Glass: Artist Immigrants of Washington'',
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
Art Museum,
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
(2016) * ''VIVA ART VIVA'',
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
, Venice, Italy, (2017);


Selected works


Interactive art

* ''Against Shadows'', 1968, is an interactive artwork that uses a grid of photo sensors to translate shadow thrown by the human body to a matching grid of wall-mounted lightbulbs. * In ''Invisible Energy Dictates a Dance Concert'', 1969-1970, readings taken by geiger counters are sent by
walkie-talkies A walkie-talkie, more formally known as a handheld transceiver, HT, or handheld radio, is a hand-held, portable, two-way radio transceiver. Its development during the Second World War has been variously credited to Donald Hings, radio engineer ...
to dancers in different rooms of the gallery. * ''Three-Way Communication by Light'', 1972, used video,
super 8 film Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The formal name for Super 8 is 8-mm Type S, distinguishing it from the ...
and laser beams to join the actions of three performers painted in whiteface. * ''Plato Now'', 1973


Performance art

* ''Imperialistic Octopus'', 1972 * ''Energy Fields'', 1972 * ''Video Trans Americas Debriefing Pyramid'', 1974


Video art


Early works

* ''Fresh Air'', 3/4" NTSC format, b/w 16 min., 1971 * ''Plato Now'', b/w, 30 min., 9 channels, 1972 * ''Monument to the Charles River'', b/w, 27 min., 2 channels, 1973 * ''Rewe'', video installation, 1991


Video Trans Americas

The Video Trans Americas (VTA) Series was a video-installation composed of videos recorded with a Sony portapak during Downey’s travels from North to Central and South America between 1973 and 1976. The first complete screening of the VTA video-installation was in the exhibition ''Landscape Studies in Video'' curated by David Ross at the Long Beach Museum of Art in 1975. The VTA video-installation in subsequent exhibitions at other museum institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art (1976) was exhibited differently. This was largely due to the spatial component entailed in the presentation of the work, a key concern for Downey, as well as his own artistic liberty to make changes or integrate other components in the installation. Therefore, there are a number of different versions in the way the VTA video installation was exhibited. The following videos were included in the installation: * ''Rumbo al Golfo'', b/w, 27 min., 1973 * ''Zapoteca'', b/w, 27 min., 1973 * ''Yucatán'', 1973 * ''Chile'', color, 13 min., 1974 * ''Guatemala'', b/w, 27 min., 1973 * ''New York/Texas I & II'', b/w, 27 min., 2 channels, 1974 * ''Nazca I & II'', b/w 11 min., 2 channels, 1974 * ''Lima/Machu Picchu'', b/w, 27 min., 1975 * ''Cuzco I & II'', 1976 * ''Inca I & II'', 1976 * ''Uros I & II'', 1975 * ''La Frontera I & II'', 1976 Additional videos that are part of the VTA series: * ''Moving'', b/w, 27 min., 1974 * ''Publicness'', b/w, 30 min., 1974 * ''Central Zone'', b/w, 27 min., 1975 * ''Videodances'', b/w, 30 min., 1975 * ''Inca Split'', 1976 * ''Bi-Deo'', 1976 * ''In the Beginning'', 1976 * ''Guahibos'', color, 26 min. 1976 * ''Yanomami Healing I'', b/w, 1977 * ''Yanomami Healing II'', b/w, 1977 * ''The Circle of Fires'', 1978 (video installation comes in 2 versions) * ''More Than Two'', 1978 (installation) * ''The Abandoned Shabono'', 1979 * ''The Laughing Alligator'', 1979 * ''Chiloe'', color, 18 min., 1981 * ''Chicago Boys'', color, 16 min., stereo, 1982–83 * ''About Cages'', 1986 (installation) * ''The Motherland'', 1986 * ''The Return of the Motherland'', 1989


''The Thinking Eye'' Series

* ''Las Meninas (Maids of Honor)'', color, 20 min., 1975Juan Downey. Las Meninas (Maids of Honor). 1975 , MoMA
/ref> * ''Venus and Her Mirror'', 1980 (video-installation) * ''The Looking Glass'', 1981 * ''Information Withheld'', 1983 * ''Shifters'', 1984 * ''Sinage'', 1984 (video-installation) * ''Obelisk'', 1985 (video-installation) * ''J.S. Bach'', 1986 * ''Bachdisc'', 1988 (interactive video-disc) * ''Hard Times and Culture: Part One, Vienna fin-de-siecle'', 1990


Collections

Downey’s work can be found in private collections and in the collections of major museums. Selected museum collections include: * The Tate Modern, London, UK; * The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; * Centre Pompidou/Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France; *
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. I ...
, Madrid, Spain; * The
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
, Washington, DC, and * Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile, among others.


Awards

Downey was a Guggenheim fellow in the area of fine arts in 1971.John Simon Guggenheim Foundation , Juan Downey
/ref>


Selected bibliography

* Valerie Smith, ed. ''Juan Downey: The Invisible Architect''. Leipzig: MIT List Visual Art Center & The Bronx Museum, 2011. * González, Julieta, Nicolás Guagnini, Carla Macchiavello, and Valerie Smith. ''Juan Downey: el ojo pensante''. Santiago: Fundación Telefónica, 2010. * Arévalo, Antonio, Marilys Belt de Downey, Juan Downey, José Goñi Carrasco, and Luisa Ulibarri Lorenzini. ''Juan Downey: La Biennale di Venezia, 49 Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte''. Milan: Rodrigo Figueroa Schirmer, 2001. * Bonet, Eugeni, Douglas Davis, Juan Downey, Nuria Enguita, Coco Fusco, Juan Guardiola, John G. Hanhardt, James Harithas, and David Ross. ''Juan Downey: With Energy Beyond These Walls (Con energía más allá de estos muros)''. Valencia: Institut Valencià d’Art Modern and Centre del Carme, 1997-98. * Hanhardt, John G., and Ann D. Hoy. ''Juan Downey of Dream Into Study''. Santiago: Editorial Lord Cochrane, 1987.


References


External links


Juan Downey
in the Video Data Bank
Juan Downey auf culturebase.net
*
Centro de Arte Digital en Memoria de Juan Downey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Juan 1940 births 1993 deaths Chilean film directors Video artists Artists from Santiago, Chile Videographers