Jaar, Alfredo (1956–)

Alfredo Jaar (b. 1956), Chilean artist. Born in Santiago, Jaar received degrees in filmmaking from the American Institute of Culture (1979) and in architecture from the University of Chile in Santiago (1981). In 1982 he moved to New York, where he received fellowships from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1985), the National Endowment for the Arts (1987), and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Berliner Kunstlerprogram (1989). Employing over-life-size and close-up photographs, light boxes, mirrors, and digital signs in his installations, Jaar addresses themes related to environmental decay and the inequality of human groups and nations. The exportation of toxic industrial waste by developed countries to Nigeria was the subject of his Geography = War (1991), and the plight of the Vietnamese boat people was depicted in (Un)Framed (1987–1991). Jaar has traveled to and meticulously researched each site he selects as a theme. The simplicity of his installations has prompted comparisons with the minimalist artists Robert Morris and Donald Judd.

See alsoArt: The Twentieth Century

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ashton Dore and Patricia C. Phillips, Alfredo Jaar: Gold in the Morning (1986).

W. Avon Drake et al., Alfredo Jaar: Geography = War (1991).

Alfredo Jaar, "Artists' Statements" in Art Journal 51 (1992): 18-19.

Additional Bibliogaphy

Baddeley, Oriana. New Art from Latin America. London: Academy Editions, 1994.

Jaar, Alfredo. Alfredo Jaar: Lament of the Images. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999.

Jaar, Alfredo. Alfredo Jaar: Studies on Happiness 1979–1981. Barcelona: ACTAR, 1999.

Jaar, Alfredo. It Is Difficult: Ten Years. Barcelona: Actar, 1998.

Jaar, Alfredo. Let There Be Light: The Rwanda Project 1994–1998. Barcelona, Spain: ACTAR, 1998.

Jaar, Alfredo; Mark Durden and Craig Richardson. Face On: Photography as Social Exchange. London: Black Dog, 2000.

Jacob, Mary Jane; Noreen Tomassi, and Ivo Mesquita. American Visions: Artistic and Cultural Identity in the Western Hemisphere. New York, NY: ACA Books in association with Arts International: Allworth Press, 1994.

Johnson, Patricia C. "Sound of Silence Speaks Loudly." Houston Chronicle, (March 2006).

                                          Marta Garsd