Works and Documents from the 2000s

May 18, 2024

Curated by Alejandra Aguado

Nora Fisch Gallery presents an exhibition dedicated to the art collection of Alejandro Ikonicoff, curated by Alejandra Aguado. Assembled primarily during the first decade of this century, this group of works and documents constitutes a true record of the sensibility and activities that, at that time, characterized the Argentine contemporary art scene and, fundamentally, the ways in which it developed in the city of Buenos Aires. Ikonicoff was personally involved in the artistic movement of the period and acquired a significant number of works emerging from artist-run projects, based on the affective relationships he established with many of them, in alternative spaces—new to the local scene—as well as in commercial galleries that were beginning to strongly support more experimental artistic expressions.

The collection thus reflects a significant portion of the generation that emerged between 1999 and 2010. It includes works from early exhibitions by Luciana Lamothe, Eduardo Navarro, and Diego Bianchi. Fernanda Laguna, co-director of Belleza y Felicidad—the space on the margins of the art establishment that marked the entry of Argentine art into this century and which Ikonicoff frequented—is well represented in the collection, as are Leopoldo Estol, Javier Barilaro, and Marcelo Galindo. It also includes early works by Deborah Pruden, Cecilia Szalkowicz, Miguel Mitlag, Rosana Schoijett, Juliana Iriart, Dani Umpi, and Max Gómez Canle, among others. The collection was also nourished by Appetite Gallery, which burst onto the scene in 2005, and by several artists who participated in the Kuitca Scholarship programs of 2003–2005 and 2010–2011.

In recent years, art institutions have focused attention on the production of the 1990s. With this exhibition, the gallery and curator aim to shed light on the tendencies and attitudes that emerged in the 2000s, following the 2001 crisis and the resulting shift in era. “Trash” aesthetics, a rebellious impulse, playful conceptualism, and a sense of emotional authenticity were some of the defining elements of those years.

The Ikonicoff Collection is likely unique in its focus on acquiring works by this generation—now including several highly prominent artists—during their emergent moment. It also continued to support the development of some of these early artists and continues to expand today to include others. From a commercial standpoint, this exhibition presents a novel format: the works will have a base price and will operate under an extended auction model throughout the two-month duration of the show.

It is worth noting that the 12th edition of the Federal Collecting Clinics—events conceived and produced by Ikonicoff to promote art collecting—will take place on June 29 at the Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection.

About Alejandro Ikonicoff

(Buenos Aires, 1969) Textile services entrepreneur, art producer, and collector. He began collecting art at the start of the new century. He supported the development of artists’ exhibitions in spaces such as Belleza y Felicidad, Appetite, the Kuitca Scholarship Program, and Boquitas Pintadas. In 2008, he created the Federal Collecting Clinics, of which eleven editions have already taken place in Buenos Aires, Salta, Rosario, and Mendoza, generating a nationwide network of art collecting enthusiasts. In 2009, together with Juan Cambiaso, he conceived the Premio en Obra, awarded in the Barrio Joven section of arteBA. In 2013, his collection was included in the exhibition Algunos Artistas 1990 – Hoy alongside the Tedesco and Bruzzone collections. He also created the CRPA network (2014–2019), a mailing list that provided information to more than 150 individuals interested in art collecting.

About the curator Alejandra Aguado

(Buenos Aires, 1976) She holds a degree in Social Communication and an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, London. Between 2020 and 2023, she served as Curator and Head of Collections at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires. From 2014 to 2019, she co-founded and co-directed Móvil, an independent organization through which more than fifteen contemporary art projects were produced. Among other activities, she has been a mentor for individual projects at the Bienal de Arte Joven and a jury member in the Utopia section of arteBA (2019). She was curator at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires in 2014–2015 and Curatorial Assistant at Tate, London, between 2006 and 2009.

Acknowledgments

Amalita Collection and its team, Germán Barraza and Patricia Carames.
Museo Sívori and its team, Teresa Riccardi.