Archivist/Activist: Visual Artist Juan Pablo Macías

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Juan Pablo in the library at Villa Romana during our interview

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During this past summer, I spent a few days visiting an artist residency in Florence, Italy called Villa Romana. Since opening in 1905, Villa Romana has hosted and exhibited many international artists. I met with one such artist, Juan Pablo Macías, who is preparing for an exhibition of his work to open in October, 2014. Juan Pablo has been researching and responding to a particular library-- an anarchist library to be precise-- which has all but fallen out of history in his native Mexico where he discovered it. With our current theme being "How Are We Remembered?" I wanted to talk with him about how he came about this forgotten library and why it matters.

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Juan Pablo Macías, Tattoo, 2014 (Tattoo made by Ozmo)

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Juan Pablo's exhibition, WORD+MOIST PRESS opens October 10, 2014 at Villa Romana. More about Juan Pablo can be found on his website here.