Sergio Vega has been working since 1995 on a large project with the main title El Paraíso en el Nuevo Mundo, based on a theory of Antonio de Leon Pinelo from the 17th century, according to which the Garden of Eden is to be found in South America. Using various media, Vega reinterprets Pinelo’s depiction of paradise with a great deal of subtle humour. For example, the large-scale photographs Paradise on Fire show trees in the tropical rain forest; only at second glance do we see the wildfire. In the large-format photographs Inside the Forest, on the other hand, Vega depicts the rainforest from the perspective of baroque painting: The chiaroscuro of Caravaggio, the voluptuousness of Rubens' forms, or light reflecting on vegetation as in Vermeer. Or in the video Parrot Theory 101, he takes a look at the iconology of parrots, which were seen in the 17th century as birds of paradise.
All works are part of a complex, critical multi-media exploration of historical and contemporary methods of representation, in which the modus operandi of colonialist ideology in the development of culture and social circumstances is examined. Vega roguishly combines theory, empiricism and mordant criticism of power and society and finally creates, in art, a paradise in which sensory stimulus and critical discourse come together.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1959, Sergio Vega attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study program in 1991/1992 and received an MFA in sculpture from Yale University in 1996. He participated in numerous international exhibitions, among them the 51st Venice Biennale, the 5th Biennale de Lyon, the 3rd Moscow Biennale, the 2nd Kwangju Biennale and the 1st Yokohama Triennale. He lives and works in Gainesville, Florida and teaches photography at the University of Florida since 1999.
Exhibitions
Publications
Exhibitions
Galería Rocio Santa Cruz, Barcelona, Spain
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Untitled Art Fair, Special project, Miami, FL, USA
MADRE - Museo d'Arte contemporanea, Naples, Italy
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Jennielift, Miami, FL, USA
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Wynwood District, Miami, FL, USA
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Kabe Contemporary, ARCO, solo projects, Madrid, Spain
Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK
Kunstfilmbiennale Köln, Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Umberto di Marino, Naples, Italy
LWL Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster, Germany
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, USA
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Umberto di Marino Arte Contemporanea, Naples, Italy
John Erickson Museum of Art (location variable museum)
Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA
Julia Friedman Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Basilico Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
Espacio 204, Caracas, Venezuela
Basilico Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France
Galerie Karsten Greve AG, St. Moritz, Switzerland
Piero Atchugarry Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
Umberto Di Marino at spazio Maria Calderara, Milan, Italy
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, Frankreich
Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA
XIV Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador
Le Scalze - Chiesa di San Giuseppe a Pontecorvo, Naples, Italy
IRL, Moving Image New York, NY, USA
Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL, USA
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany
Callao Monumental, Lima, Peru
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, USA
Design Sublime, Miami, FL, USA
KaBe Contemporary, Miami, FL, USA
Museu de Arte do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fernelmont Contemporary Art Festival, Château de Fernelmont, Belgium
Samuel P Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA
Bibliothèque Louis Nucera, Nice, France
Aluna Art Foundation, Miami, FL, USA
Cisneros-Fontanals Foundation, Miami, FL / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
Kassel, Germany
Stenersenmuseet, Oslo, Norway