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Art Museum of the Americas Gallery
January 31, 2001/01

The exhibition will Open on Friday, Februry 2 at 6:00 pm

"PUBLIC ORDER"
MIXED MEDIA WORKS BY ARGENTINEAN ARTIST GRACIELA SACCO

Argentinean artist Graciela Sacco will present Public Order, an exhibition of her mixed media works, at the main headquarters building of the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.

The exhibition, in the Americas Gallery, will include various works that have been part of different shows in cities such as Boston, Buenos Aires, Havana, Mexico City, Caracas, New York, Paris and Sao Paulo. It will be give the public in Washington a chance to see an array of works by this internationally acclaimed artist.

Graciela Sacco’s work is both engaging and controversial. She has always been interested in the relationship between art and everyday life. Sacco uses the heliographic technique to depict, among other things, social issues and civil unrest in her native Argentina, as well as in other nations. She confronts the viewer with powerful images of urban protests, marches, strikes, and riots.

The artist is also concerned with themes such as hunger, poverty, freedom of speech and social injustice. She sometimes uses streets, construction sites, public buildings, schools and other public spaces as a vehicle to broaden public and social awareness.

Graciela Sacco once said: "The observation of the urban space and advertisement graphics also led me to recognize the existence of a visual colonization that encompasses the manipulation of mass media; I also became aware that the aesthetic strategies of communication displayed on the streets interact with all citizens and that the contemporary artistic image is a political image; political while it assumes its time both aesthetic and artistically."

Sacco is also interested in exploring the impact of light. She has been using heliography in her artworks for over ten years. Heliography is a technique used by architects to produce blueprints of houses and cities. This technique allows the artist to reproduce her images in almost any media she chooses. She uses wooden sticks, curtain blinds, paper, spoons and all kinds of materials in her artwork. The artist says: "If they asked me what I would like to heliograph if it were possible, I would say smoke, ice, snow, clouds, water, projecting images over those surfaces and making the touch of light on those substances as ethereal and powerful as the substance itself."

Public Order will open to the public on Friday, February 2, at 6:00 p.m. at the Americas Gallery- Organization of American States Main Building, 17th Street and Constitution Avenue. The exhibition will remain open until March 30.

Gallery hours: Monday to Friday- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.- Free admission

For more information or images contact: Florencia Sader or Ana María Escallón - Tel:(202)458-6020/16-

E-Mail:[email protected] or [email protected]

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