Cosmic Thing

First U.S. One-Person Museum Exhibition for Mexican Artist Damián Ortega
September 4 - December 15, 2002

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania opens its new season with an exhibition by Mexican artist Damián Ortega.

Damián Ortega's first United States solo museum exhibition, Cosmic Thing, is an extended and humorous meditation on one of Mexico's most potent symbols of Westernization and mass production: the Volkswagen Beetle. For this installation, Ortega (b. 1967, lives and works in Mexico City) employs photography and a sculptural decomposition of his personal VW Bug, suspended from ICA's 30' bay ceiling. Ortega's work explores the political and cultural currency found in everyday objects and images especially as they relate to his native Mexico. These works continue Damián's participation in a history of satire stretching through DaDa, political cartooning, and conceptual art.

Damián Ortega
Untitled, 2002
courtesy of the artist, galeria kurimanzutto and D'Amelio Terras

Damián Ortega has recently participated in group exhibitions at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland; the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York; and at the Witte de With Museum of Contemporary Art in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Mr. Ortega had his first New York gallery exhibition earlier this year at D'Amelio Terras.

The Opening Reception, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday, September 4, 2002 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Exhibition Walkthroughs will take place on Wednesday September 4, 2002 beginning at 4:30pm. Damián Ortega; Reinaldo Laddaga, Assistant Professor of Romance Languages, U. of Penn; and José Roca, ICA Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow will conduct a tour of this exhibition.

installation views > click to enlarge


Cosmic Thing: Damián Ortega
Installation view

Cosmic Thing: Damián Ortega
Installation view

Cosmic Thing: Damián Ortega
Installation view

ICA acknowledges the generous sponsorship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia. Additional support has been provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Dietrich Foundation Inc., the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA, and the University of Pennsylvania. ICA is also grateful for the in-kind support of the Mexican Cultural Center and La Casa Latina/University of Pennsylvania Center for Hispanic Excellence. (Information complete as of 8/7/02.)