Above: Christopher Cozier, HOME/PORTAL, 2017. Placement and photo by Di-Andre Caprice. Kingston, Jamaica.
The Davidoff Art Initiative (DAI) is delighted to announce Javier Bosques and Christopher Cozier as the next artists selected to take part in the 2018 Davidoff Residency Program, following the conclusion of the International Residency in the Dominican Republic with Altos de Chavón School of Design. Bosques (b. 1985, Puerto Rico) will go to Red Gate Gallery Residency (Beijing, China) and Cozier (b. 1959, Trinidad and Tobago) will be hosted by Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin, Germany).
As a primary proposal for his Red Gate Gallery residency, Bosques aims to investigate the ontology of fireworks, considering themes such as their phenomenological appeal in visual and metaphysical terms and the collective inclinations for socially shared experiences. “Ultimately, I would like to present the products of my inquiry and share it with my peers and the community while in China and instances thereafter,” notes Bosques, as he considers his overall ambitions for the residency period. Bosques’ residency at Red Gallery Gallery spans April 1 through June 30, 2018.
Cozier investigates the relationship between contemporary and historical conditions as part of his practice. Referring to the residency period, Cozier states, “It is an opportunity to embark on something new or to see how being in that context may affect what I am thinking or doing.” He will continue to expand on bodies of existing and ongoing works during his residency—the New Level Headsinstallation and video and the Home/Portal project as examples—in order to make visible their wider connections to other regional and international conversations. Cozier’s residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien continues from May 1 to July 30, 2018.
The conclusion of Davidoff’s 2018 international art residency, in partnership with Altos de Chavón School of Design, featuring artists Mimi Cherono, Jan Peter Hammer, Candice Lin, and Paul Maheke, curator Christopher K. Ho, and writer Alejandra Villasmil, signals the yearly commencement of residencies featuring artists from the Caribbean region in partnerships with leading programs worldwide.
About the artists
Javier Bosques (b. 1985 Puerto Rico) is a conceptual, interdisciplinary artist working in various mediums, including video, sculpture, installation, and painting. His practice employs an expansive array of materials, forms of public engagement, and relational aesthetics. He seeks to introduce a visual language in pursue of signifiers that best represent the plurality and subjective nature of experiences.
Christopher Cozier (b.1959, Trinidad & Tobago) is a writer, curator, and artist who works across mediums—notably drawing, printmaking, video, and installation. He lives and works in Trinidad, where he is a co-coordinator of Alice Yard, a space for creative experiment, collaboration, and improvisation. Recipient of a Prince Claus Award, in 2013, Cozier was a Senior Research Fellow at the Academy of The University of Trinidad & Tobago (2006–10) and a key contributor (1998–2010) to the seminal Caribbean journal of art criticism, Small Axe.
About the Davidoff Art Initiative
The Davidoff Art Initiative supports contemporary art and artists in the Caribbean, strengthens art organizations, and fosters cultural engagement between the Caribbean and the rest of the world. It brings opportunity and visibility to the art and culture of the wider Caribbean region, including the Dominican Republic, where much of Davidoff’s production and many of the employees are based.
The Davidoff Art Residency is the centrepiece of the Initiative, under which five Caribbean artists have been selected each year since 2013 to work and live in leading residency programs worldwide—from New York to Berlin or Beijing to Bogota and Basel.
