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Neuberger Museum of Art Opens Betsabee Romero Exhibition Black Tears

Black Tears is a ten-year survey of one of Mexico’s leading artists, Betsabeé Romero. On view April 30, 2011 – August 14, 2011.

Self-described as a “mechanic artist,” Romero draws on Pre-Columbian iconography, colonial imagery, and popular culture to transform automobiles and their components into contemporary works of art.


Betsabeé Romero, Espiral sin fin (Endless Spiral), 2008, five carved tires, 21 x 98 x 7 inches. Courtesy of the artist. On the wall in background: Cadena de oro y plata (Gold and Silver Chain), 2008, Volkswagen tires embedded with gold and silver leafs, 33 x 33 x 86 inches.Courtesy of the artist.

The artist’s refashioned cars, carved tires, painted hoods, and incised mirrors explore tensions between local traditions and industrialized societies dominated by speed, mass production, and emigration.

The exhibition was originally curated by Julián Zugazagoitia for the Amparo Museum in Puebla, Mexico and traveled to the Contemporary Museum of Monterrey and the San Ildefonso Museum in Mexico. Lágrimas Negras has been reorganized for the Neuberger Museum of Art—the only U.S. venue—by Patrice Giasson, Alex Gordon Associate Curator for the Art of the Americas. The artist has created new work specifically for the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Support for this exhibition was provided by the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York. Sustaining support is provided by ArtsWestchester, with funds from Westchester County government; with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Betsabeé Romero
Awarded First prize in the 2006 Cairo Biennial, Betsabeé Romero has exhibited her work internationally and is included in prestigious collections including the Los Angeles County Museum; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Daros Collection, Zurich: Switzerland; and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexico City. Born in Mexico in 1963, Betsabeé Romero studied art in Mexico at the Institut des Beaux Arts de Paris. She completed a Master of Fine Arts in 1986 at the San Carlos Academy (ENAP-UNAM), Mexico, and a second Master of Art History at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1994. She has exhibited her work internationally and had more than 40 one-person exhibitions including: the Absolut Biennial, Los Angeles; the Contemporary Museum of Monterrey; the Carrillo Gil Museum, Mexico City; and the Ramis Barquet Gallery, New York. She has also taken part in numerous group exhibitions and biennials including the InSite 97, Tijuana; Art Grandeur Nature, La Courneuve-Paris; the Habana Biennial, Cuba; the Porto Alegre Biennial, Brazil; and the San Juan Poligraphic Triennial, Puerto Rico. Betsabeé Romero is also renown for numerous monumental installations and interventions in urban communities including East Los Angeles; Chicago; Mexico City; and Toulouse, France. Her work is included in prestigious collections including the Los Angeles County Museum; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Daros Collection, Switzerland; and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection, Mexico.

Lower Image: Betsabeé Romero Exodus I, 2007 Photograph 125 x 220 cm Courtesy of the artist

Neuberger Museum of Art 914.251.6100 Fax:914.251.6101
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