Juan Downey

Juan Downey (May 11, 1940 - June 9,1993) was a pioneer video artist. Born in Santiago, Chile, he received a B.A. in architecture from the Catholic University of Chile. He also studied at S.W. Hayter's Atelier 17 in Paris and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He immigrated to New York in 1965 and died in New York City at the age of 53 survived by his wife, Marilys Lamadrid. He is best known for his video work that is an eclectic voyage into political discourse, the history of art, ideas, personal discovery and self-reflection. Downey rediscovered a form of moving discourse that combined a multicultural deconstructivist investigation of language with his own deep understanding of color, form, shape and process. In addition to his videotapes, Downey also produced an extensive body of work that included installations, drawings, and paintings.

As Carolee Schneemann eulogized:"Tropos, topos: the passion of structure, the logic of chance; impacting political issue and the archaic mark with technologies of video. Your frame - a common bird escapes rare shadows. Confirming influence. Complex and lucid. The muscle of eye and mind. Husband of Marilys Lamadrid." [ [http://vv.arts.ucla.edu/terminals/schneemann/coils.html 1 ] ]

Juan Downey was the creator of more than 40 works. His videotapes, drawings, performances and installations have been exhibited in solo shows at the "Corcoran Gallery of Art" in Washington D.C.; the "Whitney Museum of American Art" in New York; the "Jewish Museum", New York; the "San Francisco Museum of Modern Art"; the "Contemporary Art Museum" in Houston; "The Institute of Contemporary Art" in Boston; the "International Center of Photography" in New York; and the "Schlessinger-Boissante Gallery" in New York. Downey's work has also been included in group exhibitions at the "Museum of Modern Art" in New York; at "Documenta 6" in Kassel, West Germany; at four "Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial" exhibitions in New York; at the "Stedelijk Museum" in Amsterdam; at the "Venice Biennale"; and at the "World Wide Video Festival" at The Hague. In 1998 "Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, Centre Julio Gonzalez" in Valencia, Spain hosted a major retrospective of Downey's extensive body of work.

Video works by Juan Downey

* "The Abandoned Shabono" (1978) 27 min
* "About Cages" (1986) installation
* "Bachdisc" interactive videodisc (1988) 60 min
* "Bi-Deo" (1976) 26 min
* "Central Zone" (1975) 27 min
* "Chicago Boys" (1982-83) 16 min
* "Chile" (1974) 28 min
* "Chiloe" (1981) 18 min
* "The Circle of Fires" (1978) 6 min installation
* "Encounter" (1989) installation
* "Guahibos" (1976) 25:10 min
* "Guatemala" (1973) 27 min
* "Hard Times and Culture: Part One, Vienna fin-de-siecle" (1990) 34 min
* "In the Beginning" (1975) 26 min
* "Information Withheld" (1983) 28:27 min
* "It Can Happen to You" (1975) 30 min
* "J.S. Bach" (1986) 28:25 min
* "The Laughing Alligator" (1979) 27 min
* "Lima" (1974) 27 min
* "The Looking Glass" (1981) 28:49 min
* "Maccu-Picchu" (1974) 27 min
* "Las Meninas" (Maids of Honor) (1975) 20:34 min
* "Monument to the Charles River" (1973) 27 min installation
* "More Than Two" (1978) 30 min installation
* "The Motherland" (1986) 7:04 min
* "Moving" (1974) 27 min
* "Nazca" (1974) 11 min installation
* "Obelisk" (1985) installation
* "Plato Now" (1972) 30 min
* "Publicness" (1974) 28 min
* "The Return of the Motherland" (1989) 27:10 min
* "Rumbo al Golfo" (1973) 27 min
* "Shifters" (1984) 28:10 min
* "Sinage" (1984) installation
* "Three-Way Communication by Light" (1972) 10 min installation
* "Venus and Her Mirror" (1980) 8 min installation
* "Video Trans Americas" (1976) 20 min installation
* "Video Trans Americas Debriefing Pyramid" (1974) 10 min installation
* "Videodances" (1975) 30 min
* "Yanomami Healing I" (1977) 51:27 min
* "Yanomami Healing II" (1977) 45 min
* "Yucatan" (1973) 27 min
* "Zapoteca" (1973) 27 min
* "Pini" (1973) (Aired after his death) 69 min

Bibliography

*Juan Downey, "The Thinking Eye" (New York: International Center of Photography) 1987.
*John G. Hanhardt and Anne D. Hoy, "Juan Downey: Of Dream Into Study" (Santiago, Chile: Editorial Lord Cochrane) 1989.
*Nuria Enguita Mayo and Juan Guardiola Roman, "Juan Downey: With Energy Beyond These Walls" (Valencia, Spain: Institut Valencia d'Art Modern) 1998.
*"Chile: Juan Downey" (Venice, Italy: La Biennale di Venezia 49) 1999.
*Piniberto Fuenzalida, "The Legacy of Juan Downey" (Santiago, Chile: Editorial Paraninfo) 2000.

References

External links

* [http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$artistdetail?DOWNEYJ Juan Downey] in the Video Data Bank