In the recent Cobertizo Art Residency, seven Latin American artists were given essential amenities to dive into their projects. They were guided by artists and curators through mentorship sessions throughout the program.
Located in Jilotepec De Abasolo, Estado de México,"Cobertizo" is a non-profit artistic residency that aims to contribute to the dissemination and connection of contemporary art, with a special focus on production processes. It seeks to encourage this practice within a collectively constructed environment of critical reflection and curatorship support.
Through collage, sculpture, and painting, Bruno explores numerous avenues for materials to either retain or regain their value, even after being considered waste or discarded. He successfully earned his bachelor's degree in arts at the Secretaría de Cultura de Jalisco. His artwork has been showcased in various cities across the country, as well as in the United States and Switzerland.
Diana's work emphasizes processes of friction, transformation, and collapse, as she explores places that coexist in tension with so-called "productive spaces." She poses questions within her work, such as: How are socio-political interests and tensions inscribed in the territory? Who are the subjects, materials, and processes that mediate this production?
Enrique is a sound and visual artist whose work encompasses listening, drawing, and gesture to conduct exercises in sound experimentation, introspection, and intersubjectivity. He approaches free improvisation as an open method for developing collaborative processes that explore sound.
Fernando is a visual artist, a graduate of UAEM, who explores the interaction between environmental issues and socio-political dynamics in rural and peripheral spaces. He utilizes landscape reconstruction, fictional narratives, and memory recovery to represent devastated ecosystems and survival systems through painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Maria creates temporary installations that respond to the site and interact critically with the places where they are situated. Through her interventions, she questions the internal logic, conventions, and structures that determine our relationship with art spaces.
Samuel's work focuses on the qualities we can attribute to our environment, often assimilated as "landscape," where tensions and perspectives intertwine. Samuel is interested in the idea of constructing worlds from multiplicity, diversifying thought, and entangling/disrupting what cannot be changed.
Sonia, a visual artist from Buenos Aires, works with biological materials through drawing and live sculpture. She unfolds a theoretical-philosophical imagination linked to nature and biology as discourses.
Founded in 2019 by Manuel and Ismael Sentíes, Cobertizo offers two main painting-centered programs: the National Residency for Latin American and foreign artists in Mexico and the International Production Program open to global artists aged 21 to 45. The residency stands out for involving mentors such as Mariel Vela, Fabiola Menchelli, and Javier Areán, who guide residents during the second and fourth weeks of the program.
The edition culminated in an Open Studio event during the final weekend of September, providing a platform for each artist to share their residency experiences and showcase their creative output. Attendees had the opportunity to witness firsthand the diverse and captivating creations of the participating artists.
"Being part of this residency offered the invaluable chance to create in an environment free from distractions, allowing for the exchange of references and processes among artists, all while benefiting from the guidance provided through mentorships."
Bruno Viruete | Artist
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