La Guaria Morada
Artist Talk

Date: March 24, 2018

Please join us for an artist talk with Juan Ortiz-Apuy on March 24, 2018 / 1:00 pm in the TRUCK Contemporary Art Main Space (2009 10 Ave SW). LA GUARIA MORADA runs March 23 - May 5 / 2018 in the TRUCK Contemporary Main Space. 

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.

The creation of this work was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, a generous paint donation provided by Cloverdale Paint & a partnership with Shelf Life Books.

Juan Ortiz-Apuy

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).