![Mercedes Pardo Ponte, Luna azul [Blue Moon], 1991. Acrylic on canvas, 67 11/16 x 67 11/16 in. (172 x 172 cm.)](https://img.artlogic.net/w_2020,h_1160,c_limit/exhibit-e/5ab12bb7a09a72340a8b4568/5077fff7a962e522c9c2dab837959117.jpeg)
![Mercedes Pardo Ponte, Untitled [Ed. 6/100], 1981. Serigraph on paper, 27 9/16 x 39 5/16 in. (70 x 100 cm.)](https://img.artlogic.net/w_2020,h_1160,c_limit/exhibit-e/5ab12bb7a09a72340a8b4568/1d51e1655f4adb178ed1cee5e64ee0b7.jpeg)
![Mercedes Pardo Ponte, Untitled [Ed. 6/100], 1981. Serigraph on paper, 27 9/16 x 39 5/16 in. (70 x 100 cm.)](https://img.artlogic.net/w_2020,h_1160,c_limit/exhibit-e/5ab12bb7a09a72340a8b4568/d5e7e9988fb21c323d52bd50f71969cc.jpeg)
Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino is pleased to announce our participation in The Art Show 2020, hosted by The Art Dealer's Association of America [ADAA], presenting a solo exhibition of paintings by Venezuelan master Mercedes Pardo (1921-2005).
Pardo’s work captures the spirit of experimentation characterizing the generation of Venezuelan artists, among them Carlos Cruz-Diez and Alejandro Otero, who lived and worked in Paris in the mid-century and brought geometric abstraction to the forefront of the international art scene. Pardo was a leading figure in Venezuela’s Informalist school of the early 1960s, an international movement parallelling American Abstract Expressionism. A sophisticated awareness of composition and formal harmony pervade Pardo’s oeuvre, as she explored the relationships between geometric shapes, colors, and the picture plane. Working primarily in painting, Pardo moved seamlessly between two and three dimensions, also producing theater sets, stained glass, and mosaic murals. Her use of color and form sets up a dynamic tension between flatness and the illusion of space.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1921, Pardo attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Venezuela and the Santiago Academy of Fine Arts in Chile. In 1949, she moved to Paris to study at the École du Louvre. In 1951, Pardo married noted Venezuelan painter Alejandro Otero, and they returned to live in Venezuela in 1952. Her work from the mid-1950s could be categorized as pre-Informalist given their use of a rich pictorial layer, though it tended toward a formal exploration of color. After spending a few years in Paris in the early 1960s, Pardo returned to Venezuela where she helped found the San Antonio de Los Altos Cooperative School outside of Caracas.
During her lifetime, Pardo participated in the International Exhibition of Abstract Art, São Paolo Biennale, Venice Biennale, National Biennial of Visual Arts in Caracas, and the Official Salon. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S., Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Paris, Germany, and Cuba. Pardo's work is included in many important collections, including Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Bogota, Colombia; Museum of Fine Arts, Caracas, Venezuela; Banco Mercantil Foundation, Caracas, Venezuela; Cisneros Collection, Caracas, Venezuela; National Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela; Central Bank of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela; Cancilleria de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela; Jesús Soto Museum of Modern Art, Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela; and Museo Francisco Narváez, Venezuela. Since 2016, the Otero Pardo Foundation has been working to preserve her legacy.
For more information, please call 713.529.1313 or email William Isbell at william@sicardi.com or Rebekah Bredthauer at rebekah@sicardi.com.
Location:
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065
Booth A1
Fair Schedule:
Gala Preview
Wednesday, February 26, 5pm-9:30pm
Public Days
Thursday, February 27, 12pm-8pm
Friday, February 28, 12pm-8pm
Saturday, February 29, 12pm-7pm
Sunday, March 1, 12pm-5pm
Tickets are available for purchase here.