Daniel Steegmann Mangrané: A Transparent Leaf Instead Of The Mouth

“A Transparent Leaf instead of The Mouth” is the first institutional solo exhibition of work by Spanish artist Daniel Steegmann Mangrané in the United States.

Based in Rio de Janeiro since 2004, Spanish artist Daniel Steegmann Mangrané is considered to be at the forefront of a generation of artists currently emerging from Brazil. A Transparent Leaf instead of The Mouth includes a cross section of his past work in 16mm film, drawing, holography, and installation, alongside newly commissioned sculpture and installation. The exhibition will be presented at the Center for Curatorial Studies, in the CCS Bard Galleries from June 23 to October 14, 2018 and is organized by Lauren Cornell, Director of the Graduate Program and Chief Curator.

His early aspirations to be a biologist manifest in works about permutation, mutation, and transformation across materials and life forms. This exhibition takes its title from the large-scale installation A Transparent Leaf instead of The Mouth (2017–18), which is a glass pavilion containing a dynamic ecosystem that combines local foliage and foreign insects. Produced for CCS Bard in consultation with Bard College’s horticultural staff, Dr. Linda S. Rayor of Nature Outreach Consulting, and Cornell University Entomology major Joseph Giulian, this project stages an argument for interdependency and entanglement, even across allegedly opposed genealogies or perspectives.

About Daniel Steegmann Mangrané

Mangrané (Barcelona, 1977) has studied arts and photography in EINA and Gris Art, both in Barcelona. He has had major solo exhibitions at CAC Vilnius (2018); Serralves Museum, Porto (2017); Museo de Arte Moderna de Medellín (2016), MAM Rio de Janeiro (2015); CRAC Alsace, Altkirch (2014); and, Uma certa falta de Coerência, Porto (2013).

Mangrané’s work has also been featured widely at international institutions and biennials, including the 14th Biennale de Lyon (2017); Centre Pompidou, Metz (2017); 9th Berlin Biennial (2016); New Museum Triennial, New York (2015); Kadist Art Foundation, Paris (2015); Renaissance Society, Chicago (2013); 9th Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre (2013); Museo Experimental el Eco, Mexico DF (2013); and, 30th Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo (2012).

Mangrané is a member of the advisory board of Capacete, an experimental art school and residency program in Rio de Janeiro, and organized its Summer University from 2011-2014.