A conversation with Juan and Zinnia

A conversation with two Montreal-based artists discussing recent works. The theme of hospitality will be used as a starting point to explore their practice and friendship. 

How can you participate? Register for the Zoom webinar or watch live on our Facebook.

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

Conversations in Contemporary Art is a free event series sponsored by Concordia University's Studio Arts MFA Program. The series provides a unique opportunity to hear artists, designers, critics, writers, educators, and curators share their practice(s) and perspectives. All 2020-2021 events will be hosted online, via Zoom, and will explore approaches to and perspectives on "Radical Hospitality."

Juan Ortiz-Apuy

Juan Ortiz-Apuy is a Canadian-Costa Rican artist who has been living and working in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal since 2003. Ortiz-Apuy has a BFA from Concordia University (2008), a Post-Graduate Diploma from The Glasgow School of Art (2009), and an MFA from NSCAD University (2011).

His work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally in venues such as Les Abattoirs Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (France), IKEA Museum (Sweden), DHC/ART (Montreal), Owens Art Gallery (Sackville), Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa), MOMENTA Biennale de l’image (Montreal), Quebec City Biennial: Manif d'art 7 (Québec), Truck Contemporary Art (Calgary), Museum London (London), Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography (Toronto), Optica Centre d’art Contemporain (Montreal), and The MacLaren Arts Centre (Barrie).

His work has been awarded numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and has been reviewed in various publications such as Canadian Art, MOMUS, esse arts + opinions, The Gazette (Montreal), Le Devoir (Montreal), and The Telegram [St. John’s]. Ortiz-Apuy has completed several artist-in-residence programs, most notably at The Vermont Studio Center (USA), The Frans Masereel Centre (Belgium), IKEA Museum (Sweden), and the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark). Upcoming projects include solo exhibitions at Galerie VOX (Montreal), Foreman Art Gallery at Bishop’s University (Sherbrooke) and residencies at Zentrum Für Keramik (Berlin) and MASS MoCA (USA).

Zinnia Naqvi

Zinnia Naqvi is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto. Her work examines issues of colonialism, cultural translation, language, and gender through the use of photography, video, writing, and archival material. Recent works have included archival and re-staged images, experimental documentary films, video installations, graphic design, and elaborate still-lives. Her works often invite the viewer to question her process and working methods.

Naqvi’s work has been shown across Canada and internationally. She received an honourable mention at the 2017 Karachi Biennale in Pakistan, and is a recipient of the 2019 New Generation Photography Award organized by the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada. She is member of EMILIA-AMALIA Working Group, an intergenerational feminist collective. Naqvi earned a BFA in Photography Studies from Ryerson University and an MFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University.