2024 IMPACT REPORT
CONTEMPORARY
ART OF EL SALVADOR
2024 was a year with important accomplishments for Y.ES, solidifying its position as a leading force in the region. For instance, our Art Trips continue to expand, taking a leap forward with 4 curated exhibitions showcasing a diverse group of artists. The growth of this program is only possible through the support of the artists community. This year we collaborated with more than 45 artists to present their work during the trip, including 7 from the Salvadoran diaspora, fostering a valuable connection between them and the local community.
International partnerships have also thrived. We partnered with Parrish Art Museum for the second year to present a solo exhibition of Simón Vega, a talented Salvadoran artist. Likewise, collaborations with ARCO Madrid and MECA International Art Fair have been crucial in promoting Salvadoran artists on the global stage.
Furthermore, we strengthened ties with our Mesoamerican and Central American neighbors. Y.ES Contemporary supported a Central American artist’s participation in the inaugural Travesías program by Terremoto magazine in Mexico. We also partnered with Proyectos Ultravioleta to present an exhibition curated by their curator Enrique Morales, featuring artists from El Salvador and Guatemala at the Museo de Arte de El Salvador during the Y.ES Art Trip.
To further our regional connections, we conducted research trips to Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama. These trips are the foundation for a regional collaborative network that aims to empower professionals in the region.
2024 was a year of significant growth, and we look forward to continuing this journey together.
Just Say Y.ES
MARIO CADER-FRECH
Y.ES Contemporary Founder
EL SALVADOR ART TRIP
JANUARY
15-19
From January 15-19 YES Contemporary invited 7 international art professionals to visit El Salvador as part of the YES Contemporary Art Trips Program. The trip provided an introduction to the countries creative institutions, artist practices and culturally significant sites and activities.
5 DAYS
7 GUESTS
Eric Booker Storm King Art Center
Erin Christovale Hammer Museum
Kimberli Gant Brooklyn Museum
Inés Katzenstein Museum of Modern Art
Danny Baez Head of Arts at Kickstarter Sunny Pfalzer Artist, Berlin/Vienna
Anna Ehrenstein Artist, Berlin
Y.ES CONTEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
Salvadoran artist Simón Vega presented Tropical Space Castaways solo exhibition at Parrish Art Museum in New York. For the second year in a row, YES
Contemporary and the Parrish Art Museum collaborated to present an ambitious solo exhibition by one of the most outstanding artist from El Salvador. The show opened on February 25 with a Member Preview on February 24. This exhibition featured a selection of artworks inspired by the self-made informal architecture, local market stands, and vendor carts found in the streets and beaches of Central America. Through his work, Vega examines the lasting effects of colonialism and the Cold War in Central America, and parodies disparities between first and second-world cultures, economies, and social experiences.
Image: Simón Vega, courtesy the artist.
TROPICAL SPACE CASTAWAYS SIMON VEGA AT PARRISH MUSEUM
Leading up to the exhibition, Vega was an artist-in-residence at Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio , a residency for Black, Indigenous, and other artists of color on the Shinnecock Indian Nation. During the exhibition, Vega collaborated with the Museum’s education department to conduct workshops with nearby schools.
The exhibition was supported by YES Contemporary and featured works part of the YES Contemporary Art Loan Program and Mario Cader-Frech’s collection.
Image: Simón Vega, courtesy the artist. Photo by Lisa Tamburini.
SUbjECTIVITIES: IdENTITY STRATEGIES MUSEUM Of ART Of EL SALVAdOR
Subjectivities: Identity Strategies was an exhibition by YES Contemporary in collaboration with Proyectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala) and the Museum of Art of El Salvador (MARTE) for the 2024 YES Contemporary Art Trip. Curated by Enrique Morales of Proyectos Ultravioleta , the show featured artists from El Salvador and Guatemala including: Aria XYX (SV), Beatriz Cortez (SV), Natalia Domínguez (SV), Lucy Tomasino (SV), Abigail Reyes (SV), Marilyn Boror (GT), Camile Juárez (GT), Studio Lenca (SV), Leo Choxom (GT), Inés Verdugo (GT), Gabriela Novoa (SV), and Colectivo Zorroridrag (SV).
Image: Works by Gabriela Novoa at MARTE. Photo by Lucy Tomasino.
bEATRIZ CORTEZ AT EL PATIO bY ZSONAMACO
Beatriz Cortez presented her work at El Patio by ZSONAMACO , part of ABC Art Baja , which takes place in San José Del Cabo, Baja California, Mexico. Cortez presented pieces that resemble whale bones, refering to the migration of whales and referencing the migration of humans. This project was curated by Juan Canela and was supported by Y.ES Contemporary .
Image: Beatriz Cortez. Courtesy the artist.
4 COUNTRIES 47+STUDIO VISITS
3 FUTURE TRIPS
Image: Edgar Calel at La Nueva Fábrica, Guatemala. Courtesy the artist.
Gean Moreno
ICA Miami
Patricio Majano
Y.ES Contemporary
Y.ES Contemporary invited the curator of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami , Gean Moreno , to participate in a series of research trips to Central America to investigate the contemporary art production of the region. Joined by curator Patricio Majano from Y.ES Contemporary, Moreno visited 4 countires: Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. The research will continue in the following months, with similar visits to other countries.
The research will be the basis for a traveling exhibition project to be presented in several countries.
Image: Y.ES team visits Cisco Merel’s solo exhibition at MAC Panamá.
Workshops in El Salvador:
- “How strategies are deployed from the Salvadoran art scene to contest the macho-discourses that organize the life-system” conducted by Luisa Fuentes Guaza (Madrid)
- “How feminisms occupy the public sphere to influence the legal sphereanalysis of actions from El Salvador” conducted by Luisa Fuentes Guaza (Madrid)
- “Contemporary artistic productions in the global south” by Herbert de Paz (Brasil, El Salvador)
- Artistic writing workshop conducted by Anna Ehrenstein (Berlin) and Sunny Pfalzer (Berlin, Vienna) .
Image: Abigail Reyes at la Erre, Guatemala. Courtesy the artist.
Grants supporting:
- Escuela de Nadie , Education initiative by Amanda Hernández and Ana López
- Gabriela Novoa, Crack Rodríguez, Aria XYX , to participate in “Nada Desaparece” performance workshop conducted by Marivi Véliz
- Aria XYX to establish their studio in Sonsonate
- Ana López, Aria XYX and Gabriela Novoa , to attend a workshop conducted by Bruno Leitão and organized by Rebelde Gallery and La Nueva Fábrica in Guatemala
- Antonio Romero to conduct a guided visit to the Reina Sofía Museum ’s collection of Central American art during ARCO Madrid
- Aria XYX to cover travel expenses for their residency and solo exhibition at the Gardiner Museum and Textile Museum of Canada in 2025, curated by Armando Perla
- Eugenia P to participate in the workshop “Cultura+Territorio” by FLACSO
- Ana López to participate in a curatorial workshop conducted by Maya Juracán
- Costa Rican artist Luis Williams-Fallas to participate in “Simulacros Interplanetarios” residency, organized by Terremoto (Mexico) .
Image: Work by Aria XYX. Courtesy the artist.
SIMULACROS INTERPLANETARIOS RESIdENCY IN SONORA, MEXICO
Simulacros Interplanetarios residence took place from April 4 to May 5, 2024 at Sonora, Mexico. This residence is the first edition of the Travesías Terremoto program, and it consisted of a research residence that brought together Latin American artistic and scientific practices to explore space conquest, planetary imagination and the possibilities of the cosmos in the face of a bleak future on Earth.
Through YES Contemporary Institute, YES made possible the participation of an artists from Central America, Luis Williams-Fallas (Costa Rica). Other artists that participated in the residency are Elisa Balmaceda (Chile), Rastros de Diógenes (Brazil), Nahuel Sánchez (Argentina), and Tania Ximena (Mexico).
MARIO CAdER-fRECH AT ARCO MAdRId fORUM
The Y.ES Contemporary Institute is a program focused on professional development and education in arts, that provide the participants with theoretical and practical tools to foster the development of projects that enter into dialogue with the global art systems and contemporary thought situated from the Salvadoran context. These where the activities of the Y.ES Contemporary Institute in 2024:
Talks by YES:
- Talk by Mario Cader-Frech at Arco Madrid Forum
- Talk by Patricio Majano and Herbert De Paz at the Cultural Center of Spain in El Salvador
- Talk by Patricio Majano at Centro Espacio Arte in Panama.
- Talk by Patricio Majano at MECA international Art Fair in República Dominicana
Image: Mario Cader-Frech at Arco Madrid Forum.
MARIO CAdER-fRECH AWARdEd THE “PREMIO A” bY ARCO MAdRId
YES Contemporary President and Founder Mario Cader-Frech was awarded the “A” Prize for Philanthropy and Collecting of Central American Art for his long-standing support of contemporary art and artists from the region. The award ceremony took place during the Arco Foundation Dinner at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. In addition, Cader-Frech was part of the delegation that welcomed Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain during the inauguration of Arco Madrid on Wednesday, March 6.
Image: Mario Cader-Frech at ARCO Madrid gala. Courtesy ARCO.
2024 YES PARTNERS AND COLLABORATORS
EdIfICIO COLAbORA
PROYECTOS ULTRAVIOLETA
ATELIER SOLAR
STORM KING ART CENTER
LA fÁbRICA
bROOKLYN MUSEUM
PARRISH ART MUSEUM
WHITNEY MUSEUM Of AMERICAN ART
NORTON MUSEUM
MUSEUM Of ART Of EL SALVAdOR
HAMMER MUSEUM
MUSEUM Of MOdERN ART
MECA INTERNATIONAL ART fAIR
LAbERINTO PROjECTS
INSTITUTE Of CONTEMPORARY ART MIAMI
REINA SOfÍA MUSEUM
MUSEO dE ARTE
CONTEMPORÁNEO PANAMÁ
PAIZ fOUNdATION
TERREMOTO MAGAZINE
PROYECTOS ULTRAVIOLETA
LA CASA ROSAdA
MEMORIA GALLERY
fORMA MUSEUM
ENSAYO Y ERROR
CASA 510
INSTITUTE Of CONTEMPORARY ART bOSTON
SAO PAULO bIENNIAL
CENTRO ESPACIO ARTE
CASASOLA
MUSEO dEL CANAL dE PANAMÁ
SATISfACTORY
TEOR/ÉTICA
SALITA TEMPORAL
CERO UNO
LA NUEVA fÁbRICA
GALERÍA REbELdE
ESPACIO C
EXTRA GALERÍA
bARbARA THUMM GALLERY
CENTRO HACEdOR dE fUTURIdAdES MATERNALES
EAT ESCUELA EXPERIMENTAL dE ARTE
ZSONAMACO
AbC ART bAjA
GARNIdER MUSEUM
TEXTILE MUSEUM Of CANAdA
MA’S HOUSE ANd bIPOC ART STUdIOS
KICKSTARTER
TbA 21
AbRA ESPACIO
dORAL MUSEUM
KOW bERLIN
ESCUELA dE NAdIE
LAb Of EXPERIMENTAL ART
NETWORK Of SPANISH CULTURAL CENTERS IN CENTRAL AMERICA
GALERÍA 123
NAVE CINE METRO
MUSEO dE ARTE Y dISEÑO CONTEMPORÁNEO dE COSTA RICA
MOR CHARPENTIER
Y.ES
IS
AN
INITIATIVE OF THE ROBERT S. WENNETT AND MARIO CADER-FRECH FOUNDATION
Y.ES Council
Mario Cader-Frech
Robert S. Wennett
Adriana Cisneros de Griffin
Simón Vega
Carolina Alvarez-Mathies
Gabriela Poma
Solita Cohen
Beatriz Cortez
Claire Breukel
Y.ES Team
Omar Lopez-Chahoud
Patricio Majano
Ana López
yescontemporary.org
@yescontemporary