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Miguel Horn sculpts an expandingcareer

Artist Miguel Horn, founder of Traction with a giant head made of c and c cut cardboard. ( ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ /Staff Photographer )

A.M. Weaver, For The InquirerPOSTED: Tuesday, September 1, 2015, 3:01 AM

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Five years ago, Miguel Horn returned to Philadelphia afterliving and working in Mexico as the assistant to acclaimedsculptor Javier Marin.

An ambitious artist with Colombian and Venezuelan rootswhose vision spans multiple communities and continents,Horn finds himself today, at 31, at a crossroads andimmersed in determining the direction of his career. Whilepublic­art commissions punctuate his practice as a sculptor,he balances his portfolio with individual sculptures thatexpress his inner psyche.

Horn is known for his large­scale figurative sculptures andconceptually derived public artworks and is currently featuredin an exhibit by the collective Traction Company at thePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Rasco Gallery inSouth Philadelphia, and the Comcast Center's gallery, Art atthe Center. A solo show is scheduled for next year for TallerPuertorriqueño.

Raised in Philadelphia, Horn at an early age worked at hisfather's antique­clock shop, tinkering with gears, springs, andweights to make or repair intricate ornamental clocks ­ whichultimately influenced him to make art.

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"Helping my dad taught me to work with my hands andsparked a mechanical interest in engineering. I learned howthings were built, when craft was king," Horn recalls. "It was atime in which things were built with attention to detail, andobjects were made to outlive us."

It's no wonder then that Horn switched from painting tosculpture at PAFA. After completing his studies, he was hiredto apprentice with Marin, an artist with a substantial reputationinternationally who masterfully models the human form, oftencasting in bronze. Notable is the angst and tension evident inhis dramatic, classically derived sculptures.

Marin's strong influence can be seen in the coiled flourishesHorn adds to his figurative sculptures, which often refer tolove and alienation. The student and master artist share anaesthetic that leans toward monumentality in concept andsize, creating works that convey the struggles of the humanspirit.

Horn reflects on his experience as an apprentice. "It wasincredible to land . . . the opportunity to work with Marin," whohe said introduced him to "a wealth of practical tools for art­making and the business and logistics of the international artworld. It broadened my perspective on contemporaryfigurative art."

In developing public works and commissions, Horn usesstrategies similar to a community organizer. He first learns

about the people in the community, their histories andconcerns, and then identifies key leaders. While consideringthe type of art for a specific site, Horn also researches thetopography and ecology of the area, including local industriesand challenges present within the environment.

A recent example of this approach was the groundwork heand Charles Landau laid in planning their installation for the2014­16 Vancouver Biennale in the most densely populatedmunicipality in Canada. Landau and Horn launched a 13­footfunerary canoe into the Squamish River. In deciding to makea canoe for the site, they took into consideration the life of theSquamish First Nation peoples of the area, their beliefsystems, and their lore.

The interior of the canoe was a topographic map of the HoweSound made of wood pulp. The center of the canoe served asa scrim for an animation of waterways and the night skycalibrated to interface with the map.

Barrie Mowatt, executive director of the Vancouver Biennale,cited a moving acknowledgment of Horn's ability to interactwith diverse populations.

"A 400­year­old first­growth log was given to Landau andHorn for their project as a gesture of appreciation andhonoring their work with the Squamish," said Mowatt. "Half ofthis ancient log was given to Chief Ron 'Chum' Newman forhis grandchildren's canoe.

"Horn was invited to become part of their dialogues" ­ at theTotem Hall, which serves as a community center and site forpreparation of the rites­of­passage ceremonies for youth inthe community ­ "which was a great honor."

Horn's multiplicity of roles ­ artist, organizer, coordinator ­ alsoincludes collaborator. He finds inspiration in the collaborativeprocess as evidenced by his work with the collective TractionCompany. Horn is, in part, responsible for the group'smammoth truss installation at PAFA's Hamilton Building, anintegral part of the Traction exhibit.

"There are multiple reasons the Traction Company's exhibitwas a fit with PAFA's agenda," said museum director HarryPhilbrick. One part included "the opportunity to showcaserecent tendencies of artists to work collaboratively yetmaintain their solo practice, like a band. We wanted to give asnapshot of that."

A natural fit was Traction Company's works installed in Julythat related to the physicality and architecture of the Tractionstudio, an old trolley­manufacturing warehouse in WestPhiladelphia on Haverford Avenue. The danger of losing theirstudio is at the crux of their presentation.

Horn's collaborative spirit also encompasses a lifelongexchange with Hugo Marmugi, an animator and videographer;and DJ Juanderful, a.k.a. Juan Bustamante, a local DJ knownfor Tropicalismo nights held at various venues in Philadelphia.Interested in documenting the life and work of Latin/Hispanic

artists in Philadelphia, Horn, Bustamante, Marmugi, and DrewSaracco, another freelance videographer, are launching aWeb­based series of interviews with Latin artists titled "EntreVistas."

"I've always been interested in the [art] of contemporary LatinAmerica, which encouraged me to link with that world in Phillyand see what people are doing that connects back to theworld," says Horn. "There are people doing cool things inPhilly, and I think there is a connection made to their homecountry. And also I am trying to identify who is doing what inthe Latin American art. . . . This series was designed to seekand identify that community."

Rafael Damast, curator and visual­arts program manager atTaller Puertorriqueño, says Horn's art connects withauthenticity.

In this year's Filadelphia exhibit, Damast said, Horn was "theonly sculptor [who engaged] form and space. Guardian [aminiature bronze sculpture of a riot cop], placed above eyelevel, conveyed authority and power, but alsodanger.Callejeros [sculptures of street people] were on thefloor; power was taken. In this depressed community, what hewas depicting echoed in some ways the community's feelingsof powerlessness."

Horn says his recent collaborations with Landau and TractionCompany have expanded his interest in sociopoliticalelements and "the history of materials and how they can be

A.M. WeaverFor The Inquirer

used to address communal themes and issues."

Rather than narrowing his focus, his projects are widening hispossibilities.

"I don't know the exact direction," he says, "but I think eachproject ushers in new ideas."