Contemporary Latin American Art

Yoan Capote by Charmaine Picard (Edited by) Yoan Capote is a Conceptual artist who lives and works in Havana. His provocative work examines how we physically and emotionally respond to socio-political conditions around us. With characteristic wit, Capote addresses such issues as stress, hunger, fear, sexual desire and economic survival using a diverse range of solutions and techniques, from sculpture and painting, to installations, photography and video. Capote graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte, Havana and is the recipient of awards including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation award in New York.

Nicola Costantino by Carlos Kuri (Text by) Argentine artist Nicola Costantino (* 1964 in Rosario) achieves in her art what visual arts should do: her sculptures, installations, videos, and photographs catch the eye and alter perception. Because they are predominately rooted in sensation, and not just in concepts, her artworks trigger an immediate, physical reaction. Casts of animal fetuses, molds of human skin, and soaps made with the artist's own fat build up a tension between ornamentation and revulsion. Her innovation revolves around ethical values and the alienation from nature. Even sexuality is turned into compulsion, flesh, and transmuted bodies, turning everything into an oppressive eroticism. This monograph gives an insight of her works from the past twenty years, complemented by an in-depth conversation with Nicola.

Sonia Gomes by Sónia Gomes (Artist); Isabel Diegues (Edited by); Solange Farkas (Text by); Richard Sardenberg (Text by); Paulo Nazareth (Text by) This first monograph on the extraordinary Afro-Brazilian sculptor Sonia Gomes (born 1948) brings together around 100 images of her works. The book traces the path of this artist who, by transforming found and donated materials such as fabric and wire by twisting, tying and sewing, creates sculptures that describe her history as an artist of African descent. Born in Caetan polis, a town with an important textile industry, Gomes grew up in the midst of textile factories and the strong presence of her grandmother--a black woman, a healer and a midwife, who taught her everything about the basics of sewing. The book includes essays by curators Ricardo Sardenberg and Solange Farkas, as well as a textual work by artist Paulo Nazareth made especially for this volume.