Juan Ortiz-Apuy: La Guaria Morada

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Juan Ortiz-Apuy, "La Guaria Morada," 2018

The opening reception is on Friday March 23, 2018 at 7:00 pm

In La Guaria Morada, tropical orchids, an ultrasonic industrial humidifier, and dehumidifiers are assembled to form an artificial environment in a perpetual state of negotiation and precarity. Centred around the national flower of Costa Rica, the installation serves as an homage to Ortiz-Apuy’s country of origin, and functions as a metaphor for situations caught in similarly uncertain and precarious conditions. La Guaria Morada is a fragile ecosystem. Dependent on the gallery’s lighting and staff to sustain it, the orchids parallel the art object, maintained via systems that aim to foster and nourish artistic practice, and to artist-run centres, equally requiring perpetual effort and negotiation in order to survive.

Juan Ortiz-Apuy was born in Costa Rica in 1980. He has lived and worked in Montreal since 2003. Ortiz-Apuy holds a BFA from Concordia University (2008), a Postgraduate Diploma from The Glasgow School of Art (2009), and an MFA from NSCAD University (2011). His work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. Recent exhibitions include Museum London, Gallery 44, Gallery TWP, Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran, The MacLaren Arts Centre, A Space Gallery, and the Quebec City Biennial: Manif d'art 7. His work has been reviewed in various publications including Canadian Art, Le Devoir [Montreal], The Gazette [Montreal], The Telegram [St. John's], The Toronto Star, and MOMUS. Ortiz-Apuy has recently completed Artist-in-Residency programs at The Atlantic Centre for the Arts (USA), The Vermont Studio Center (USA), and The Frans Masereel Centre (Belgium). Upcoming projects include a residency at the IKEA Museum (Sweden), as well as exhibitions at Les Abattoirs Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (France), and Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa).