Dulce-Amargo - Jackie’s ode to the Mexican people

At the beginning of 2008 Jackie Sleper , the winner of the section “Sculpture and Installation” at the Florence Biennale 2007, will go to Mexico for several solo exhibitions curated by Matty Roca, commencing with the Museo de la Cultura Maya de Chetumal. For these exhibitions, the Dutch artist has realized a series of works inspired by and dedicated to Frida Kahlo and to Mexico.

Jackie Sleper has always been fascinated by Mexico and it’s artist Frida Kahlo, for whom she has a profound admiration. In 2005, she received an invitation from Matty Roca, art historian and President of the Council for Arts and Culture in Cancun to depict her vision of Mexico. Over the course of two years Jackie Sleper, together with her husband and children, spent many months in the country, where she created many of her works. Jackie says: “Matty became a dear friend. She showed me Mexico. I took in everything around me, spoke with lots of people and, especially, got a sense of the country. My previous love of Mexico only grew stronger. In March my work will be travelling to various museums in Mexico – something I would never have dared dream of as a child. I feel like I am on top of the world. This is the link that completes the chain.’

Her modern works are at times reminiscent of Rivera, Orozco, Tamayo and Pollock. Jackie Sleper assumes absolute freedom in applying various techniques and introducing experimental elements: her work is characterised by combinations of photography and painting, and the use of mixed media. In addition to paintings, Jackie creates objects that incorporate a variety of multiple materials, which she transforms into wholly new and surprising concepts. The artist allows her work to be guided by a profound sense of humanism, and she’s depicted as an artist in the truest sense of the word: her work has always been grounded in her exploration of human existence and the significance behind it.

Matty Roca: “I have been able to witness Jackie Sleper’s development – as a photographer, painter and sculptor – at first hand. Every painting is an intensely personal creation and expression, presenting the world as she perceives it. She is sensitive, intense, mysterious and subtle, but also possesses a cast-iron personality. Above all, she knows exactly what she wants. She conveys her personality with exceptional clarity, so that she is comprehensible for one and all.”

Jackie Sleper was born in Amsterdam and studied at the Utrecht Academy for Visual Arts. Between 1988 and 1995 she spent time in Ireland, Spain and Prague for study purposes. Works produced in her home country, the Netherlands, include a tile plateau in honour of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, commissioned by the municipality of Utrecht, and ‘light objects’ for the Kruisheren Hotel, a design establishment that opened in Maastricht in 2005. Outside the Netherlands, she has exhibited in Antwerp (Art-Event), Stockholm (Art Fair), Marbella (Marb Art – Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo), Geneva (Europ’Art), Klagenfurt (Biennale Austria), Salzburg (Mozart Festival), Florence (Museo Diocesano and Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea), Milan (Studio D’Ars), New York (Carrozzini Von Buhler Gallery and CVB Space), and in Mexico. One of her works, Modestia, was exhibited during La Biennale di Venezia, at Open 2007. She won the 1st prize for “Sculpture and Installation” at the Florence Biennale 2007.

CALENDAR MEXICO 2008 (dates to be confirmed):

6 March - 30 April
Museo de la Cultura Maya de Chetumal
Av de los Héroes y Calle Mahatma Gandhi,
Chetumal , (Mexico)
8 May - 20 June
Museo de la Isla de Cozumel
Av. Rafael E. Melgar entre 4 y 6 Ote.
Cozumel, Quintana Roo
3 July - 25 August
Museo de Arte Moderno de Gòmez Palacios.
Londres y Lisboa
Col. El Campestre
4 September - 23 October
Museo Palacio Pedro de Alvarado
Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua
6 November - December (closing date TBC)
Museo del Aguacate
Durango

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Jackie Sleper
website: http://www.jackiesleper.com

Images:
You can also see images of Jackie’s artworks at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dulceyamargo

For journalists only:
High resolution files of these images or other press related information can be requested directly from the press office:
Vito Abba, press officer
Studio Abba - Corso Italia, 6 - 50123 Florence, Italy
info@studioabba.com
www.studioabba.com

Other images and further information are available at:
http://www.dulceyamargo.com/

It will be possible to follow the various stages of “Dulce y amargo” thanks to the information and images that will be posted on www.dulceyamargo.com.
Visitors to Jackie’s exhibitions in Mexico, can also upload photos taken during the exhibitions on flicker and share them with
http://www.flickr.com/groups/dulceyamargo
At the end of the exhibition series, the authors of the three photos that Jackie likes most, will each receive a signed lithograph of one of her works.

For general comments contact:
dulceyamargo@yahoo.com

Vito Abba
Studio Abba
Corso Italia, 6
50123 Florence
Italy
tel. +39 055292082
fax +39 055292082
info@studioabba.com
http://www.studioabba.com
http://www.jackiesleper.com

Jackie Sleper was born in Amsterdam and studied at the Utrecht Academy for Visual Arts. Between 1988 and 1995 she spent time in Ireland, Spain and Prague for study purposes. In the Netherlands, her works have been exhibited in various cities, including Amsterdam (KunstRai), Rotterdam (Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum) and Utrecht (Daatselaar & Godhelp, Antique Dealers). Outside the Netherlands she has exhibited in Antwerp (Art-Event), Stockholm (Art Fair), Marbella (Marb Art – Feria Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo), Geneva (Europ’Art), Klagenfurt (Biennale Austria), Salzburg (Mozart Festival), Florence (Museo Diocesano and Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea), Milan (Studio D’Ars), New York (Carrozzini Von Buhler Gallery and CVB Space), and in Mexico (Museo de la Isla de Cozumel, Quintana Roo).
One of her works, Modestia, will be present during La Biennale di Venezia, at the Open 2007.
Jackie has been invited to take part in exhibitions at museums in Mexico, Venezuela and Chile at the beginning of 2008.

Art historian Andrea Basedow about Jackie Sleper: ‘She is naturally adept at a wide variety of artistic skills. By applying different techniques within a single piece, she creates fields of tension that capture our attention. At the same time, she is not afraid to celebrate beauty, affluence, joy of life and a sense of playfulness and elegance in her work, much like the artists at the courts during the Italian Renaissance.’

This release was published on openPR.