Descripción de la Exposición
USF Contemporary Art Museum, part of the Institute for Research in Art in the USF College of The Arts, presents "Bosco Sodi: Básico", an exhibition that brings together Bosco Sodi’s various sources of artistic inspiration as examples of sustainable art making. The exhibition includes a powerful group of paintings titled “Vers l’Espagne”, whose rough surfaces recall creek beds and the footpaths trod by Mexican and Central American immigrants on their way north, as well two new series Sodi made in Mexico in 2020 during pandemic lockdown: large spherical clay sculptures he has called “perfect bodies” and a series of “Sun Paintings” on chili pepper sacks, both fashioned with materials that were readily available at his studio in Oaxaca, Mexico. Also included in the exhibition are small clay sculptures made by local children, the hands-on output of a community art program developed by Sodi’s Casa Wabi Foundation, the non-profit art and community-education complex the artist founded eight years ago on Mexico’s Oaxacan Coast. Among the messages of the exhibition: challenging times demand a return to what is Básico—art, community, and education.
As part of the exhibition, CAM will present the community-engaged project, Bosco Sodi: Tabula Rasa (Tampa). Inspired by Earth’s universal cycles of growth, Tabula Rasa, Latin for “clean slate,” symbolizes new beginnings. First installed on May 23, 2021, in New York City’s Washington Square Park, the Tampa iteration of Sodi’s public artwork will engage the community in the collaborative and creative process of hand-making hundreds of clay seedpods and embedding them with heirloom corn seeds. During a participatory event on February 12, the public will be invited to claim their seedpods to plant, nurture, and harvest; thus highlighting indigenous Mexican agricultural practices and their potential impact on food cultivation and sustainability in the United States. Engaging public participation and the power of creative transformation, the project offers what Sodi considers vessels for new life as a gesture of mutual assistance and opportunity for individual and collective growth.
"Bosco Sodi: Básico" is curated by Christian Viveros-Fauné, CAM Curator-at-Large; organized by the USF Contemporary Art Museum. Básico is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and supported by the Lee & Victor Leavengood Endowment and the ACE (Art for Community Engagement) Fund Patrons. Tabula Rasa (Tampa) is presented in partnership with Meacham Urban Farm and USF student organization CAM Club.
RELATED EVENTS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022
Bosco Sodi Virtual Artist's Talk
6:00pm, Zoom - Register Now!
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kW38ZYhLSoS-igT7BA-NQQ
Join us on Zoom for a virtual gallery conversation with artist Bosco Sodi and exhibition curator Christian Viveros-Fauné to celebrate Bosco Sodi: Básico.
DATE TBA - Please consult CAM website for updates
Tabula Rasa (Tampa) Community Seedpod Making Workshop
11:00am–2:00pm, Location: Outdoors, USF College of The Arts Ceramic Studio between FAH and FAS
Join members of the community in creating seedpods, clay spheres embedded with heirloom corn seeds. These seedpods will be distributed at Bosco Sodi’s participatory public art performance of Tabula Rasa (Tampa) on February 12th at Meacham Urban Farm. Organized in partnership with USF student organization CAM Club. Free admission; Visitors are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2022
Bosco Sodi: Tabula Rasa (Tampa)
9:00am–noon, Meacham Urban Farm - 1108 E Scott St, Tampa, FL 33602
Mexican artist Bosco Sodi’s participatory public art performance Tabula Rasa invites visitors to collect their own seedpod from among the organic crops at Meacham Urban Farm in downtown Tampa’s urban core, to plant, nurture, and harvest in their own domestic space. Consisting of over a hundred clay seedpods formed by hand and embedded with heirloom corn seeds, the project highlights indigenous Mexican agricultural practices and their impact on food cultivation and sustainability in the United States, offering a symbolic message of hope, care, and mutual assistance through individual and collective action. A planting demonstration and tour of the farm will be provided. Presented in partnership with Meacham Urban Farm and USF student organization CAM Club. Additional parking available on the street and in the parking lot in the 1300 block of Governor St. at Scott St. Free admission; Visitors are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2022
Art Thursday Student Led Tour
6:00pm, USF Contemporary Art Museum
Join us for a student led tour of Bosco Sodi: Básico. Free admission; Visitors to the museum are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing.
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022
Bosco Sodi: Básico Curator’s Tour + Closing Reception
6:30–9:00pm
USF Contemporary Art Museum
Join us to celebrate Bosco Sodi: Básico with a gallery tour led by exhibition curator Christian Viveros-Fauné at 6:30pm, followed by a closing reception until 9:00pm. Free admission; Visitors to the museum are expected to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Regular Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Thursday 10am-8pm, Saturday 1-4pm, Closed Sundays and University Holidays (January 17th).
Special Hours: January 14, 7-9pm.
Admission: Free
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Bosco Sodi is known for his use of raw, natural materials to create large-scale textured paintings and objects. Sodi has discovered an emotive power within the essential simplicity of his materials and the vivid pigments he sources. Sodi has described his creative process as a “controlled chaos” that makes “something that is completely un-repeatable.” Focusing on material exploration, the creative gesture, and the spiritual connection between the artist and his work, Sodi seeks to transcend conceptual barriers. In the past few years, Sodi has turned more to sculpture and the traditions of his Mexican heritage. At his studio in Oaxaca, he extracts raw earth from the ground and combines it with water and sand to form clay. He uses this elemental material, one of ancestral significance, to create minimalist sculptures.
Bosco Sodi has exhibited his work internationally and throughout the United States. In September 2021, the artist opened a major sculpture show at the Dallas Museum of Art, and completed his second public installation, Tabula Rasa, at Manhattan’s Washington Square Park. Notable institutional outings include exhibitions at the Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City (2017), The Noguchi Museum, New York (2015); and the Bronx Museum, New York (2010). His work is in significant public and private collections worldwide including JUMEX Collection, México; Contemporary Art Foundation, Japan; Harvard Art Museum, Massachusetts; Nasher Sculpture Center, Texas; The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.; Walker Art Center, Minnesota; Wadsworth Athaneum Museum of Art, Connecticut; New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana; and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, California.
ABOUT USF CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM
USF Contemporary Art Museum (USFCAM) organizes and presents significant and investigative exhibitions of contemporary art from Florida, the United States and around the world. Serving as a teaching laboratory, USFCAM’s curatorial and socially engaged initiatives and educational programs are designed to present the students, faculty, and community with current issues of contemporary art practice, and to explore the role of the arts in society. USFCAM publishes relevant catalogues, presents critically recognized traveling exhibitions and commissions new projects by national and international artists. USFCAM maintains the university’s art collection, comprising more than 5000 contemporary art works.
Exposición. 13 dic de 2024 - 04 may de 2025 / CAAC - Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo / Sevilla, España
Formación. 01 oct de 2024 - 04 abr de 2025 / PHotoEspaña / Madrid, España
