The Key

A Live Workshop by Tony Cruz Pabón

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Curated by Marina Reyes Franco

The Key exhibition view First gallery detail (2021-02-13) by creator#Tony Cruz Pabón creator#Raquel Pérez PuigMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

La llave / la clave [The Key] is a project that evidences the links between album covers produced in Puerto Rico and New York between the 50s and 80s, and the visual culture and historical dynamics that informed them: music, videos, images of the world of art and advertising, syncretism and religion.

Díselo Mon (2016) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Tony Cruz Pabón
Díselo Mon
2016
Graphite on paper
13 1⁄2” X 11”
Courtesy of the artist

Taller Vivo with Tony Cruz Pabón (2021-02-13) by Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto RicoMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

The Key (Collection) (2006/2021) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Tony Cruz Pabón
The Key (Collection)
2006 - 2021
Installation
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist

This installation consists of a table, LPs and a record player, in the manner of a reference library. The interior of the albums thus become a publication, as the artist has replaced the inner sleeves with ones that offer a visual map of relationships between song lyrics, text fragments, images from the history of art and other album covers.

The records, based on their covers and content, are analyzed based on four categories: popular culture, Modernism, religion/syncretism and space exploration. The public is invited to consult the library in the gallery by taking a record to read and/or listen to it.

The Key exhibition view Second gallery back oblique (2021-02-13) by creator#Tony Cruz Pabón creator#Raquel Pérez PuigMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

The project’s inception was in 2006, and was formalized in 2011 as an artist talk. Currently, the project consists of an illustrated talk, an installation, a collection of LP records, a publication, a video, and music playlists.

The Key Playlist Compilation (2021) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

To access the playlists, click here.

Five records - LP- by Ismael Rivera (detail) (2012) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Tony Cruz Pabón
Five records - LP- by Ismael Rivera (detail)
Intaglio
2012
IA/P
11 3/4” X 11 3/4”
Courtesy of the artist

Five records - LP- by Ismael Rivera (detail) (2012) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Tony Cruz Pabón
Five records - LP- by Ismael Rivera (detail)
2012
Embossed print
A/P
11 3/4” X 11 3/4”
Courtesy of the artist

The Key exhibition view Recording booth detail (2021-02-13) by creator#Tony Cruz Pabón creator#Raquel Pérez PuigMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

In this iteration of La llave / la clave, carried out within the framework of the Taller Vivo [Live Workshop] program, the publication was reedited and an additional component will be developed: a recording studio as functional sculpture. In it, sound pieces will be developed in a radio program format, in which the artist and his guests will discuss music and its visual landscape.

Tony Cruz Pabón
The Key (Recording Booth)
2021
Instalación / Installation
Courtesy of the artist

Pa' La Luna Podcast (2021-02-13) by Tony Cruz Pabón and Ingrid Bonetti VelozMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

A collaboration with Joel Rodriguez Vargas. Pa la luna is a collage of music, sounds, and conversations, product of Tony Cruz Pabon's Taller Vivo at the MAC. It is a sound-space and speculative trip that parts from salsa cover arts and songs that insist on arriving to the terrestrial satellite.

Listen to the podcast here.

The Key exhibition view Second gallery detail (2021-02-13) by creator#Tony Cruz Pabón creator#Raquel Pérez PuigMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Along with the pieces that make up La llave / la clave, other works on paper complete the musical set of works in the exhibition.

Propuesta #64 (Cortijo and Ismael) (2008/2009) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

Tony Cruz Pabón
Propuesta #64 (Cortijo and Ismael)
2008-2009
Serigrafía y grafito sobre papel / Silkscreen and graphite on paper
23” x 17”
Courtesy of the artist

Proposal submitted by the artist to the open call 100 proposals for a new museum, made in the context of the publication of the Carta Abierta al MAC [Open Letter to the MAC] in 2008. Within the framework of this exhibition, a specific educational program has been developed for students of the Rafael M. De Labra School.

The Key exhibition view Recording booth back (2021-02-13) by creator#Tony Cruz Pabón creator#Raquel Pérez PuigMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

La llave / la clave is a non-academic investigation into the cultural imaginary that makes up a good part of the evolution of salsa as a musical genre and all that it has meant in Puerto Rico and diasporic populations in New York.

The Key (Video) (2018) by Tony Cruz PabónMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico

In this way, Tony Cruz Pabón's research unfolds in many ways before a generous audience that is willing to enjoy it.

Tony Cruz Pabón
The Key (Video)
2018
Video
11:14 min Loop
Courtesy of the artist

Credits: Story

MUSEO DE ARTE CONTEMPORÁNEO DE PUERTO RICO

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rubén Méndez Benabe, President
Rafael Flores Pérez, Vice President
José Negrón, Treasurer
María Awilda Quintana-Román, Secretary
Salvador Alemañy
Antonio García
Pedro Muñoz Marín
Enid Picó
Letty Rivero Iturregui
Rachid Molinari
Luis Fernando Rodríguez
María Elba Torres


MUSEUM STAFF
Marianne Ramírez Aponte, Executive Director and Chief Curator

Evita Busa, Deputy Director

Wanda Michelle Dilán, Administrator

Marina Reyes Franco, Curator

Mariela Collazo Heredia, Registrar

Pablo Serrano Otero, Head Preparator

Joudy Santaliz, Education Coordinator

Karin Cardona, Head Archivist

Windy Cosme, Projects Manager, MAC en el Barrio

Welmo Romero and Donald Escudero, Coordinators, MAC en el Barrio

Brenna Quigley, Development Coordinator

Dalila Rodríguez Saavedra, Communications Coordinator

Melinda Llompart and Alexnel Suárez, Administrative assistants

EXHIBITION

Marina Reyes Franco, Curator

Mariela Collazo Heredia, Registrar

Pablo Serrano Otero, Head Preparator

Carolina Cortés, Fundraising

Dalila Rodríguez Saavedra, Communications coordination

Ingrid Bonetti Veloz, División de Diseño, Branding and Graphic Design

Exhibition and artwork documentation by Raquel Pérez Puig

Online exhibit created by Pablo Serrano Otero

Online exhibitions are organized by Marina Reyes Franco

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our special thanks to the sponsors of this project:
Fondo Flamboyán para las Artes
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
Comisión Especial Conjunta de Fondos Legislativos para Impacto Comunitario
Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña


MAC SPONSORS
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Fondo Flamboyán para las Artes
Gobierno de Puerto Rico
Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña
Comisión Especial Conjunta de Fondos Legislativos para Impacto Comunitario
Ford Foundation
Filantropía PR
Fundación Ángel Ramos
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico
The National Endowment for the Arts
The Boston Foundation
Hispanic Federation
Miranda Foundation
Liberty Business

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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