Gustavo Romano
Encyclopedia
Gustavo Romano is a Buenos Aires-born contemporary artist who works in a variety of media including actions, installations, net art, video and photography.
He uses media and technology devices as well as objects belonging to our daily lives decontextualizing them and trying to force a think over about our routines and preconceptions.
He won the Guggenheim Fellowship
in 2006. He lives and works in Madrid.
On 2009 he started the project called Psychoeconomy! an artistic platform for discussion and research, proposing an alternative approach on various global issues. Each edition involves an artist’s meeting, a public event and the publication of the resulting conclusions, documents, texts and graphic materials. The first edition was the Corporate Summit 2010, proposed in order to discuss the international financial crisis and prevailing monetary exchange systems. Four artists (CEOs of their own fake corporations), red the Madrid Declaration, at Matadero Madrid. The artists were Daniel García Andújar
, Fran Ilich
, Georg Zoche and Gustavo Romano.
11, Bonn (2007), the I Biennial of the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina (2007), the I Singapore Biennale
(2006), the VII Havana Biennial
(2000), the II Biennial of Porto Alegre, Brazil (1999), the I Biennial of Lima (1997).
He has participated in new media and art in public space festivals as Madrid Abierto (2009–2010), Transitio MX, Mexico (2007); Transmediale
, Berlin (2003); Videobrasil
(2005) and FILE (2001), Sao Paulo; Interferences (2000), Montbéliard; Ars Electronica
(1997), Vienna.
In 2008, he presented “Sabotaje en la Máquina Abstracta” (Sabotage in the Abstract Machine), a ten years’ anthological solo show at the MEIAC of Badajoz, Spain.
He has also had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Tamayo Museum
, Mexico DF, among others.
He was the initiator of LIMbØ, an independent media lab that started in 2002 with the cooperation of the MAMBA (Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires).
He was the curator of the Virtual Space of the Cultural Center of Spain in Buenos Aires. He started and directed the MediaLab of this institution as well.
From 2004 to 2009, he was the director of the Medialab and the curator of the Virtual Space of the Cultural Center of Spain in Buenos Aires.
Since 2008 is the curator of NETescopio, an archive of net art projects for the MEIAC, of Badajoz, Spain.
He uses media and technology devices as well as objects belonging to our daily lives decontextualizing them and trying to force a think over about our routines and preconceptions.
He won the Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 2006. He lives and works in Madrid.
Projects
One of his projects is Time Notes, that consists in the performances of a series of actions using a new money system designed by Romano, bills based on units of time (bills of 60 minutes, 5 years, etc.). One of those actions is the Lost Time Refund Office, were officers ask to the passing by people how do they lost their time and refund it with a time bill, doing at the same time a classification and a data base of the losses. Since 2004 he has developed on streets of cities like Berlin, Singapore, Rostock, Vigo, Buenos Aires, Mexico, San Jose, Silicon Valley, Munich, Madrid, etc.On 2009 he started the project called Psychoeconomy! an artistic platform for discussion and research, proposing an alternative approach on various global issues. Each edition involves an artist’s meeting, a public event and the publication of the resulting conclusions, documents, texts and graphic materials. The first edition was the Corporate Summit 2010, proposed in order to discuss the international financial crisis and prevailing monetary exchange systems. Four artists (CEOs of their own fake corporations), red the Madrid Declaration, at Matadero Madrid. The artists were Daniel García Andújar
Daniel García Andújar
Daniel García Andújar is a visual media artist, activist and art theorist from Spain. He lives and works in Barcelona. His work has been exhibited widely, including Manifesta 4 and the Venice Biennale...
, Fran Ilich
Fran Ilich
Fran Ilich is a Mexican writer and media artist who principally works on the theory and practice of narrative media. During the early 1990s he co-founded the Contra-Cultura collective and was involved in the independent media scene in Tijuana -- mainly the cyberpunk scene -- where he was known to...
, Georg Zoche and Gustavo Romano.
Exhibitions
He has participated in several international events like VideonaleVideonale
Videonale is an annual international festival and competition for art videos in Bonn, Germany, held since 1984.-History:Since its beginnings, the festival has constantly been altered. Apart from the competition, the Videonale presents a large exhibition of installation art and panel discussions on...
11, Bonn (2007), the I Biennial of the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina (2007), the I Singapore Biennale
Singapore Biennale
The Singapore Biennale is a contemporary art biennale in Singapore. The first Singapore Biennale operated as one of a lineup of Singapore 2006 events. Fumio Nanjo, Director of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, has been reappointed Artistic Director of the Singapore Biennale 2008...
(2006), the VII Havana Biennial
Havana biennial
The Havana Biennial Art Exhibition takes place in Havana every two years, and principally aims at promoting the « Third World » contemporary art...
(2000), the II Biennial of Porto Alegre, Brazil (1999), the I Biennial of Lima (1997).
He has participated in new media and art in public space festivals as Madrid Abierto (2009–2010), Transitio MX, Mexico (2007); Transmediale
Transmediale
transmediale is an annual festival for media art and digital culture taking place for one week in February in Berlin, Germany. The festival engages in reflective, aesthetic and speculative positions in between art, technology and culture...
, Berlin (2003); Videobrasil
Videobrasil
In 1983, despite the fact that electronic art had just arrived in Brazil, Associação Cultural Videobrasil organized the first edition of what would later become the International Electronic Art Festival, directed by Solange Farkas, gathering a whole generation of Brazilian pioneers...
(2005) and FILE (2001), Sao Paulo; Interferences (2000), Montbéliard; Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Its director until 1995...
(1997), Vienna.
In 2008, he presented “Sabotaje en la Máquina Abstracta” (Sabotage in the Abstract Machine), a ten years’ anthological solo show at the MEIAC of Badajoz, Spain.
He has also had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Tamayo Museum
Tamayo Museum
Tamayo Museum could refer to one of two museums in Mexico:*Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporáneo, in Mexico City*Museo Rufino Tamayo, in Oaxaca...
, Mexico DF, among others.
Curatorial projects
He started and developed in 1996 the virtual space “Fin del Mundo” (The End of the World), which provides a platform for the circulation of net art projects by Argentinean artists. It was the first of a kind in Latin-America.He was the initiator of LIMbØ, an independent media lab that started in 2002 with the cooperation of the MAMBA (Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires).
He was the curator of the Virtual Space of the Cultural Center of Spain in Buenos Aires. He started and directed the MediaLab of this institution as well.
From 2004 to 2009, he was the director of the Medialab and the curator of the Virtual Space of the Cultural Center of Spain in Buenos Aires.
Since 2008 is the curator of NETescopio, an archive of net art projects for the MEIAC, of Badajoz, Spain.