Gerardo Mosquera critiques reductive Latin American identity in art, launches book on 20 artists

Cuban critic and curator Gerardo Mosquera, 75, argues against a totalizing concept of Latin American art, calling for a 'liberation of identity' and a new paradigm of 'from here.' He co-founded the Havana Biennial in the 1980s and has advised institutions like the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Mosquera spoke to arte!brasileiros on the occasion of the book launch '20 em 20, Os artistas da próxima década: América Latina,' edited by Fernando Ticoulat and João Paulo Siqueira Lopes from Act., which features 20 artists including Ad Minoliti, Carolina Caycedo, and Tania Pérez Córdova. He emphasizes that identity should be an open, relational space, not a prison, and criticizes the historical 'neurosis' around Latin American identity born from colonial processes and the need for legitimization against hegemonic centers. The curator, who lives between Cuba and Spain and is currently in Madrid due to the pandemic, recently published 'Arte desde América latina (y otros pulsos globales)' and co-curated the newly inaugurated Guangzhou Image Triennial in China. He notes that artists no longer need to be based in New York or London for international circulation, citing Brazilian artists like Cildo Meireles who remain in the country. Mosquera also discusses the pandemic's impact, stating that art's importance has become more evident during confinement, with museums adapting through online exhibitions and controlled openings.