Information Withheld, 1983

In this complex investigation of signs and symbols based on an essay by Leo Steinberg, the artist worked with a body of narratives and encounters shot in Egypt, Chile and New York. Downey dissects signs in everyday life and the systems of signification in visual art. Everyday signs such as traffic signals are supposed to convey information instantly and clearly, while such visual art works as classical painting resonate with a multiplicity of meanings and ambiguity. But this distinction between simple and complex signification takes numerous twists and turns when the artist subjects some signs and symbols to his personal, subjective associations and intellectual analysis.

Juan Downey

1940, Santiago, Chile. Died in New York in 1993. Juan Downey's work embraced a wide spectrum of different techniques: drawings, installations, video, paintings and etchings. At the same time, investigating complex subjects and ideas pertinent to the use of new technologies in art, Downey received numerous awards, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. He acted as associate professor in both the School of Architecture and the media department at Pratt Institute. His work has been exhibited in solo shows at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Contemporary Art Museum, Houston; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; International Center of Photography, New York; El Museo del Barrio, New York; and IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia. Downey's work has also been included in group exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Documenta 6, Kassel; four Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial exhibitions; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Venice Biennale. In 1998 IVAM Centre Julio González hosted a major retrospective of Downey's extensive body of work.