Walkthrough of Julia Isídrez: Mud is Everything with Sofia Gotti
We are currently presenting the first institutional solo exhibition in England by the Paraguayan ceramicist Julia Isídrez. Join art historian and curator Sofia Gotti for a walkthrough of the exhibition, exploring the work of Isídrez within the broader history of twentieth-century Paraguayan art.
Through close examination of the materials, forms and techniques of Isídrez’s ceramic sculptures, we will trace their roots in Paraguay’s Guaraní heritage and consider how they embody a profoundly decolonial approach to artmaking.
The talk will also place Isidrez’s work in dialogue with that of other Paraguayan artists with whom she shares personal or intellectual connections, including modernist pioneer Josefina Plá and her contemporary Claudia Casarino. These connections will open up new ways of understanding the sculptures on display, situating them within intertwined histories of war, emancipation and cultural innovation. In doing so, the walkthrough will offer a multifaceted portrait of Paraguay, shaped by its complex and often fraught relationship with indigeneity and the mixing of colonial European and Indigenous traditions.
Sofia Gotti is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art in South America currently co-leading the MA Curating at the Courtauld Institute. Her work broadly focuses on the intersections of radical politics, art, and popular culture, to consider how patriarchal, colonial and racial orders can be destabilised or diffused. She is curator of the Spotlight section of Frieze Masters. In 2024 she was part of the curatorial team of Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, the 60th International Art Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia. The same year, she curated the XX Biennale Donna in Ferrara titled Yours in Solidarity. Previously, she worked on numerous exhibitions at institutions for example Tate, the Guggenheim Museums, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, and commercial galleries internationally. Before joining the Courtauld she held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Cambridge.
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Access
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This event will be held in Gallery 1. Meet at Reception.
Speakers will use microphones.
This event is wheelchair accessible.
If you have any questions around access or have specific access requirements we can accommodate, please get in touch with us by emailing info@nottinghamcontemporary.org or phoning 0115 948 9750.