Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980) Known for a humorous and irreverent approach, Espinoza destabilizes the grid, an iconic symbol of modern art, by way of folding, stretching, and cutting the geometric form. These works were produced as a reaction to the dominant tendencies of geometric abstraction and Kinetic art in Venezuela during these decades. Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980) traces these seminal works, which include his large Impenetrable (1972)—an installation that subverted the modernist canon, challenged Kinetic art, and engaged post-minimalist strategies—and explores Espinoza’s active involvement in the evolution of abstraction during the post-war period. Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980), features over 50 exceptional works including paintings, photographs, sculptures, postcards and documentation of performances and interventions by Eugenio Espinoza (b. 1950, Caracas; lives in Gainesville, FL). The exhibition focuses on his practice during the decade of the 1970s, highlighting Espinoza’s significance within the Latin American avant-garde of that period. The title of the exhibition refers to the countless experiments Espinoza made to produce his emblematic black grid supports, as he folded, stretched, and cut to this geometric form, contaminating this iconic symbol of modern art. Eugenio Espinoza: Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980) is organized by guest curator Jesús Fuenmayor and coordinated by Pérez Art Museum Miami Assistant Curator María Elena Ortiz.

Related programs
Art Talk: Eugenio Espinoza in conversation with Jesús Fuenmayor
Saturday, March 21, 2pm
In conjunction with the opening of Unruly Supports (1970 – 1980), Eugenio Espinoza will speak about his humorous and irreverent manipulations of the grid, a modernist icon, with Jesús Fuenmayor, curator of the exhibition. This talk will be in Spanish with English simultaneous interpretation.

PAMM Free Second Saturdays: "Off the Grid, a picnic with artist Eugenio Espinoza”
Saturday, April 11, 1-4pm
After exploring Eugenio Espinoza’s work in the galleries, experience the limitless creative possibilities of the grid with hands-on art making activities for all ages, facilitated and inspired by the artist! Then, picnic on Espinoza’s signature black and white grid in the form of a giant blanket by the bay, an installation on view for one day only as part of the giving festival, Philanthrofest: Carnival of Dreams, in Museum Park. Bring lunch or pick one up at Verde. Arrival by free Miami-Dade Metromover is recommended (Museum Park station).

Eugenio Espinoza was born in 1950, in San Juan de los Morros, Venezuela. From 1966 to 1974, he studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Cristobal Rojas and the Instituto de Diseno Newmann-Ince both in Caracas. From 1977 to 1981, he lived in New York where he studied at the Pratt Institute, New York University and the School of Visual Arts. In 1972, Espinoza exhibited cut and folded canvases at the Museo de Bellas Artes and his Impenetrable at Ateneo de Caracas. His works belong to numerous permanent collections such as Tate Modern, London; the Fine Arts Museum of Houston; the Pérez Art Museum Miami; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach; the Galeria de Arte Nacional, Caracas; Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas; Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sao Paulo; Museo de Arte Moderno, Rio de Janeiro; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Bogota; Foundation Gego, Caracas; Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York; the Cisneros-Fontanels Art Foundation, Miami; among others. He lives and works in Gainesville, Florida.

Since 2012, Jesús Fuenmayor has worked as the director and curator of The Cisneros-Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO). Fuenmayor also worked as curator at Periférico Caracas, where he organized over thirty exhibitions.