Name: Gustavo Oviedo
Future exhibition: Swenson Gallery @ The Bakehouse -“Southern hospitality” opening reception Friday Nov.13th 2009
Website: www.131projects.com
· What is it about your work that makes it speak to people or to the community at large?
My work is influenced by my experiences, as I grew up I moved from one country to another many times. Adaptation and understanding of my environment was key, I live in Miami, living here is what s influencing me at the moment. I am aware of the audience when I produce my work, but i understand that what i do is not for everyone so I don’t give it priority. Most of the people I talk about my work with know me and have seeing it developed and understand where I come from.
· How do you let people know about your work?
I published a limited edition book, it s called “Deconstruction”. It’s 131 pages of images documenting my artwork and environments from 1999-2009. Thanks to that when someone asks me: what kind of work you do? I show them the book.
· What do you feel inspires you to make art in the particular medium you have chosen?
I don’t limit to one in particular, I like to explore all kinds of mediums keeping a constant concept. Lately I have being working on collages using vinyl, palm trees and resin. Video is another medium that I use, the interaction of sound and moving images gets me busy. Non-linear narrations is how i would describe the style of most of the videos I’ve being producing, Kronos has made the music/sound design for a lot of them
(www.vimeo.com/user1221327/videos). I also have an abstract stop motion animation piece that made it into the optic nerve IX:
http://ka.uvuvideo.org/_Optic-Nerve-IX-Films-Invisible-Sights/video/563088/86294.html
Sometimes it’s easier to tell a story or communicate an idea with this medium.
· Why Miami?
Because of a series of events that I wasn’t in control of, but I am glad to be here and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else (for now).
· How would you compare the art scene in Miami to other cities you have lived or worked in?
I had my first gallery exposure in Miami at the Green Door gallery, it was in 1999, Gary Fonseca and Mino Gerges ran that place. At that time things weren’t as developed, I remember there wasn’t such a thing as the “Wynwood Art District”, most of the galleries were in Coral Gables and the Design District or scattered around town. Once Art Basel came into the picture, that’s when Miami’s art scene got some sort of steroid shot and grew up really fast. It s also at that time that I moved to San Francisco, by the time I came back in 2005, it was really different to what I knew before leaving. I like the fact that it developed so fast, because in general things move so slowly. I have many friends that have moved to NYC or other big cities because they weren’t satisfied with what was going on down here, but I think those days are fading away.
