Trasgressions

Y.ES launches this December 2nd during Art Basel Miami Beach with an invite-only one-night exhibition Transgressions at the signature 1111 Lincoln Road 7th floor venue. An initiative of The Robert S. Wennett and Mario Cader-Frech Foundation, Y.ES is an exchange program working with artists affiliated with the country of El Salvador. Formalizing this past September after supporting a decade of diverse programs for Salvadoran contemporary art, the Y.ES initiative kicked off with an art trip inviting renowned artists Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood and The Contemporary Director Deana Haggag to El Salvador to conduct talks and workshops with local artists. This December—launching officially to the throngs of international art visitors during Art Basel Miami Beach—Y.ES curates Transgressions to explore themes of body boundaries and social interaction supporting the initiatives aim to promote exchange between people, cultures and regions.

Curated by Y.ES Director and Curator Claire Breukel, Transgressions features work by both Salvadoran artists and others who have participated in the program. Works include a 20-foot “Rocket Bar” by famed Salvadoran artist Simon Vega, video works by fellow Salvadoran Crack Rodriguez and Guatemalan artist Regina Jose Galindo. At 9pm Naama Tsabar performs (Untitled) Double Face, featured at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York earlier this year, and is a two-women guitar battle using one of Tsabar’s guitar sculpture on loan from The Robert S. Wennett and Mario Cader-Frech private collection. The 1111 Lincoln Road 7th floor venue will also be intervened with by up-and-coming Salvadoran artist Kevin Baltazar who wraps architectural spaces in his signature green plastic cord, an inexpensive material used to make cheap furniture in his local city of San Salvador.

That is not all, the 1111 Lincoln Road office building 3rd floor showcases an exhibition of 13 Salvadoran artist’s work selected from the Mario Cader-Frech collection. The exhibition, titled “Closing Distances,” highlights the impact of “street” culture on Salvadoran contemporary art and many artists interest in the value of the human body and elements of the performative.

This exhibition will also be open for viewing on December 2 during the Y.ES event that expects more than 300 VIP guests who will be introduced to Y.ES for the first time. The event is supported by Ron Abuelo, Societe Perrier, Dream Water, and more.

In 2016, Y.ES plans to bring more art experts to El Salvador to meet the community, is producing Salvadoran artist books as a follow up to the book Y.ES Collect Contemporary El Salvador created by Mario Cader-Frech, Claire Breukel, artist Simon Vega and the Foundation in 2014, and programming talks, exhibitions and workshops that further benefit the contemporary community of El Salvador and its diaspora.