Roundtable
“How do different cultural backgrounds affect perceptions on color and artistic expression?”
Moderator
Carolina Ariza - Colombian Independent Curator & Researcher
Carolina Ariza is an exhibition curator and researcher. In 2018 she defended her PhD thesis at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, on the artistic resurgence of secondary histories in Colombia in the wake of the siege of the Palace of Justice in 1985.
In 2019 she was a finalist for the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP) research grant, awarded to art theoreticians and critics, following the development (publication and exhibition) of her project Tisseuses de mémoire. Les artistes femmes et leur participation à l’écriture de l’histoire (Memory weavers: Women artists and their involvement in writing history). She curated the exhibitions Tisseuses de mémoire (Espace Arte Faktos, Paris, 2019) and Murmures et visions. Une déambulation en Amérique latine (IESA Arts & Culture, Paris, 2016); she was also in charge of the Latin American section of Solo Projects at the SWAB Art Fair in Barcelona (2014 and 2015) and was appointed research supervisor for Latin America at the Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Georges-Pompidou for the “Research and Globalisation” project. She also contributed to the acquisition of Antonio Caro’s piece Aquínocabeelarte (Artdoesnotfithere, 1972) by the Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Georges-Pompidou.
Panelists
Maryam Mahdavi - Iranian Interior Designer
Born in Tehran, Iran, Maryam Mahdavi grew up in Paris, where her father was the Iranian ambassador. Passionate about art and design, the young woman decided to study at ESMOD before completing her training at the Louvre School.
Maryam is an interior architect, stylist, designer and set designer. Her whimsical style is impregnated with haute-couture references and precious materials, mixing chic and extravagance.
Elias Crespin - Venezuelan Visual Artist
Elias Crespin uses custom-software-controlled motors to animate the modular geometric structures he creates. His installations consist of arrangements of metal hand formed elements or single elements into geometric volumes, which are suspended in midair by nearly invisible nylon threads. Through computer programming, they constantly shift and mutate, producing highly nuanced choreographic effects. His work questions the concept of form, space, movement and time and it’s often associated with the study of color, the experimentation of different materials and textures, of light and shadow.
Elias Crespin grew up in Caracas, where he was originally trained as a computer engineer. His parents were both mathematicians, his grandparents were artists: his work perfectly integrates these two personal universes, science and art. Crespin's works have entered the collections of important institutions such as the Musée du Louvre and the Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris, the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, El Museo del Barrio in New York, the MALBA in Buenos Aires.
Isabella Derlon - Venezuelan Handbag Designer
Isabella is a Venezuelan accessories designer currently working as an intern in Louis Vuitton, she just completed her master’s at the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris. In 2020, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. She interned for Carlos Cruz Diez as a graphic designer and printing assistant.
The products that she conceives are meant to form a bond between the work and the individual. She believes that through developing a deeper connection between the customer and the product, one is less likely to consume as frequently. As a result, the consumer's purchasing habits are more sustainable and they are able to validate the value of the piece that they have invested in.
Sergio Corvacho - Peruvian Fashion Photographer
Born in Perú and raised throughout the world, Sergio began to excel in the fashion and beauty industry shortly after his arrival to America. He emerged in the photography/make-up world in Lima, Perú. He has assisted in runways and shoots , performing make-up all over the world for top designers and photographers.
Now, an established and acclaimed artist with assistants of his own, Sergio works as a freelance photographer who collaborates with L'Officiel Paris, shooting the intimacy of stylish families, opening the doors of their houses to show the luxury, art, fashion and interior design that surrounds their lives. Sergio wants to show reality in his photos, that's the reason why he stopped doing highly productive photoshoot sessions and started a more organic and natural style where he feels more comfortable.