Iván Krassoievitch

Proyectos Monclova inaugurates the exhibition Apagaremos el sol de un sombrerazo by Mexican artist Iván Krassoievitch.

In this exhibition he addresses some texts and poems by authors belonging to the Estridentista movement, a literary avant-garde developed in Mexico during the second decade of the 20th century. The title of the exhibition refers to a phrase expressed in the second Estridentista manifesto that was published in the second issue of the magazine Actual. In this writing, the authors proclaimed the possibility of a new and youthful art and the search for a theme focused on machines. “We will extinguish the sun with a flick of a hat” refers to the speed with which they would completely extinguish an entire literary tradition.

Krassoievitch reviews certain characteristic elements of literary stridentism. Thus, he studies texts and poems by authors such as Germán List Arzubide, Kyn Taniya, Manuel Maples Arce, Germán Cueto, among others, to visually recompose them. In the exhibition, the artist presents unique pieces made of silk-screen printing with gold leaf and polyurethane paint on a wooden frame, which give continuity to the imagery of the historical avant-garde that championed cosmopolitanism, machines and technologies.

Such is the case of pieces such as Prisma (Interior Scaffolds), which alludes to the poem Prisma by Manuel Maples Arce, in which Krassoievitch's geometric and abstract rewritings can be appreciated. In addition, sculptures made of marble, quartz, steel, paint and gold leaf are presented that dialogue with one of the first radio broadcasts in Mexico City, carried out by Radio El Universal in May 1923.

Iván Krassoievitch's work aims at a philosophical and didactic reflection on written language. For some years now, he has focused on exploring, questioning, translating and recodifying texts; him as well as highlighting the plastic materiality of language and its relationship with the visual arts, concentrating particularly on genres such as poetry and the manifesto. From this starting point, the artist proposes, for example, the possibility of writing poems without using written language, developing a wide range of works that can be understood as pieces of text that do not use any text. Krassoievitch's work translates, takes up and dislocates elements of writing; visual poetry; editorial projects and conceptual art, among others, to propose a review and re-evaluation of one of the characteristic features of our species: language.

Iván Krassoievitch (Mexico City, 1980) is a multidisciplinary artist trained in Industrial Design at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (1998-2001); in Cinematographic Scriptwriting from the Cinematographic Training Center (2007-2009) and the SOMA Educational Program (2011-2013). His training also took place in different workshops and poetry laboratories, among which the Experimental Poetry with Ricardo Pohlenz (2016) and the Latin American Poetry with Eduardo Milan (2019) stand out.

His work has been exhibited institutionally in places such as: CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeux, Bordeaux, France; Siqueiros Public Art Room, Mexico City; Chopo University Museum; Museum of Modern Art; Lake House; El Eco Experimental Museum; Spain Cultural Center; Museum of San Carlos and MUCA Rome, among others. As well as in different spaces in countries like Finland; USA; Denmark, Colombia, Argentina, Italy and France, among others. He has participated in the following artist residencies: Arteles, Finland (2013); Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico (2015); CAPC museé d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2016); URRA Project, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017) and Taller Los Guayabos in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (2019) and more recently in La Nueva Fábrica (2023). He is currently a Member of the National System of Creators, FONCA 2021-2024.

— Proyectos Monclova