Art critic Janet Batet weighs in on the Guillermo Kutica exhibit on display at MAM through Jan 17.

Guillermo Kuitca is one of the most beloved figures of Latin American contemporary art. His work is the expression of man’s ontological problems that become sensitive in our contemporary age. Kuitca (Buenos Aires, 1961) supports his entire polyphonic production on the polarity from the private-public space where two very personal icons become essential metaphor: the map and the bed. His labyrinthine, overwhelming networks are counterpoint to the intimate niche -quasi womb-that is the bed. However, in Kuitca’s universe – as in our daily life – spaces are contaminated. As a result, Kuitca’s beds show -as a tattoo on the skin- the unfathomable traces of the public dimension in our intimacy.

Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1982-2008 is the title of the most comprehensive survey of Kuitca’s work. The travelling exhibition, curated by Doug Dreishpooh of the Albright-Knok Art Gallery, is on view at the Miami Art Museum and The Freedom Tower through January 17, 2010.

Untitled (Untitled), 1992 consists of twenty beds that stand together as a sort of island or continent. The public and private spaces have merged and the urban network becomes sort of arteries of a unique new living being, a maze or puzzle that contains within itself an endless number of possibilities.

Another icon appropriated by Kuitca is the recurrence of architectural plans that begins as an exploration of the personal space –his own bedroom- to expand shortly to a very specific kind of architecture, such as prisons, cemeteries, theaters, stadiums, etc. These buildings designed to accommodate human clusters respond to very specific and predetermined structures that settle on individual’s behavior.

Trauerspiel, 2001, is the canvas that welcomes the visitor.  The title refers to a German tragedy form appeared during the nineteenth century. This form of tragedy reflects the emergence of the bourgeoisie and place ordinary people as protagonist characters.  This sort of self-portrait, brings a new spin: the transitory and impermanent as an essential condition of our age.

Kuitca: Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1982-2008 @ the Miami Art Museum (MAM) is on exhibit at MAM through Jan 17. Click here for hours, pricing & more info.