FIDEL FERNÁNDEZ WINS AICA PARAGUAY 2023 AWARD
The International Association of Art Critics in Paraguay (AICA-Py) awarded the AICA 2023 Prize to the exhibition Cuadernos de campo (Field Notebooks) by Fidel Fernández, curated by Adriana Almada and exhibited during Pinta Sud 2023 at the Arte Actual gallery in Asuncion.
Presented within the framework of Pinta Sud 2023, Cuadernos de campo exhibited paintings, xylography and engravings, and an installation with takuru (termite nests) made by artist Fidel Fernández, who addresses a sustained reflection on reality with a critical sense that appeals to social satire.
Adriana Almada, curator of the exhibition, explains: “Fidel Fernández reaches painting through the path of words. An unexpected journey, carried out against the current of the widely expanded habit of going into painting from photography. He observes and writes. And this personal writing that sets down on paper everyday situations in an ethnographic way is the plot that sustains his painting”. The exhibition highlighted the relationship between the discursive order involved in the investigation of reality and its translation into image through the execution of works.
Today, Thursday, May 30, at 7.30 p.m., the award ceremony will take place at the Arte Actual Gallery, where the artist, the curator and the gallery will receive the recognition.
The AICA Paraguay Award is a recognition to an art exhibition, granted since 2015. This is the ninth edition of the award. Previous awardees were: Ruth Estigarribia for her urban intervention Teleprompter (2015), Bernardo Kraniansky for his exhibitions Historias de corte y montaje (CAV/Museo del Barro & Fundación Texo, 2016) and 50/75. Recent and archival work (Migliorisi Foundation/Art Collections, 2016), Sara Leoz for her exhibition Ahora! (Fábrica Gallery, 2017), Ricardo Migliorisi for his work El gran manto (2018), Osvaldo Salerno for his exhibition Caja de Herramientas (Fábrica Gallery, 2019), the exhibition Feliciano, with work by Feliciano Centurión (Fundación Texo, 2020), the group exhibition Colmar de Memoria el olvido (Centro Cultural de España Juan de Salazar, 2021), and the exhibition Ahora o nunca by Bettina Brizuela (Fundación Texo, 2022).
Fidel Fernández was born in San Juan Bautista del Ñeembucu, Paraguay, in 1984. He is a self-taught artist who has exhibited individually and collectively in the country and abroad and has won several awards, including the Henri Matisse Award, which allowed him an artistic residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. His work is represented in public and private collections in Paraguay and other countries.
Adriana Almada is an art critic, curator and editor. Born in Salta, Argentina, she has lived for decades in Paraguay, where she has been actively involved in the artistic and cultural life of the country. She has curated dozens of national and international exhibitions. She is currently artistic director of the Mendonca Collection and director of the culture section of the newspaper El Nacional.