The haudenschildGarage was founded by Eloisa Haudenschild in 2003. Eloisa is a collector and active supporter of global contemporary art, especially the work of emerging artists. Collecting is primarily a result of Eloisa’s involvement with artists and the artistic community in Latin America, China, and Europe.
Her Latin American collection, in particular, began in the early 1990s due in large part to Eloisa’s involvement with inSite, a binational initiative that commissions artists to make new work in Mexico and the US. As inSite’s President since 1997, Eloisa continues to work closely with significant Latin American curators and artists.
In the late 1990s Eloisa began traveling to China where she forged friendships with young Chinese curators, artists and gallerists. In 2002, selections from the collection were curated as a traveling exhibition Zooming into Focus: Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection. From 2002 to 2005, the exhibition traveled to five cities: San Diego, California; Tijuana, Mexico; Shanghai and Beijing, China; and Singapore. Zooming into Focus was the first exhibition of its kind in San Diego and Singapore and the first contemporary Chinese photography exhibition at the Centro Cultural Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time the Shanghai Art Museum exhibited works of contemporary Chinese video and photography from a private collection and, perhaps most significantly, it was the first retrospective exhibition of Chinese photography and video ever held at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing. Two symposia were organized in conjunction with exhibitions in the United States and China. A catalog with commissioned essays was published in conjunction with the symposia in 2005.
In 2003, Eloisa founded the haudenschildGarage that works with artists through international and regional projects and commissions to present symposia, lectures, and film screenings to the public. A series of artist residencies introduced numerous young Chinese artists to the U.S. for the first time.
In early 2010, the haudenschildGarage founded the Fundación Migdalia Rubio,whose mission is to offer scholarships, labs, summer programs, and holiday dinners to economically challenged elementary and high school students in Tijuana, Mexico.
2015 - 2018, the haudenschildGarage introduced Projects in the Garden with two commissioned works: EVEN WHEN FALL IS HERE by Mexican artist Erick Meyenberg (completed in 2018); and the Brazillian artist Cadu’s (Eduardo Costa) Monumental Negative-A Family Portrait (also completed in 2018).
In 2018, the Haudenschild Collection was donated to the Hammmer Museum at UCLA in Los Angeles. It is hoped that through the Hammer, the collection will be made available not only for exhibition, but also for research by scholars and others interested in this formative decade in contemporary Chinese art.
February 14 - May 14, 2023, The Haudenschild Collection opened at the Hammer Museum with the exhibition: Cruel Youth Diary: Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection
Selected from a recent major gift of works to the Hammer Contemporary Collection by the Haudenschild family, this exhibition focuses on pioneering Chinese photography and video from the 1990s and early 2000s. Cruel Youth Diary looks at a generation of artists whose work responded to a period of tremendous social, political, and economic change in mainland China. Through strategies of Conceptual art, performance, and installation, these artists reflected on and critiqued the visual culture of a burgeoning new China on the cusp of the 21st century.
Featuring works by Cao Fei, Chen Shaoxiong, Feng Mengbo, Hong Hao, Kan Xuan, Liu Wei, Shi Yong, Song Tao, Weng Fen (also known as Weng Peijun), Xiang Liqing, Yang Fudong, Yang Yong, Yang Zhenzhong, Xu Zhen, Zhao Bandi, and Zhu Jia. Cruel Youth Diary: Chinese Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection is organized by Nicholas Barlow, curatorial assistant, with Aram Moshayedi.
Garage Projects are long term, collaborative projects in which the haudenschildGarage engages directly with artists, institutions, and communities. These projects often take place over an extended period of time and often contain various intersections with the public.
Recent Garage Projects include the Political Equator IV (2013-2015) based in Argentina with Teddy Cruz, Alejandro Meitin, and Mauricio Corbalan; and a kitchen/garden project in a suburb in Buenos Aires with the literary collective, Eloisa Cartonera and author Washington Cucurto (2012-2017). In 2013, the haudenschildGarage collaborated with Mark Bradford on Hermès, a project developed between Los Angeles and La Jolla, California. The same year, the haudenschildGarage produced the documentary Triples/Trillizos, with Itzel Martínez and Lucía Sanroman. The film was selected by and screened at the Oaxaca International Film Festival in Mexico, the New Orleans International Film Festival, the Cortopolis Film Festival in Argentina, the La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles, the 2nd Academic Conference of Visual Anthropology in Mexico, and the Encuentro Académico de Antropología Audiovisual. In 2010, the haudenschildGarage founded the Fundación Migdalia Rubio (FMR) that offers educational scholarships to at-risk youth in Tijuana, Mexico. The FMR’s most recent project (2015), Niños Trabajadores de la Linea, removes children from Tijuana’s bartering lines and gives them a chance to attend labs and art workshops.
Earlier Garage Projects include The Gift Exchange, with Yang Zhenzhong and Eduardo Abaroa (2011); Laboratorio Experimental de Óptica, by Felipe Zuñiga González (2011); the Periscope Project’s Summer Urban Laboratories workshops in San Diego, California (2011-2012); a collaboration with Estacion Tijuana and Taller 7 on Proyecto Coyote for the MDE11 Biennial in Medellin, Colombia with curator Lucía Sanromán (2011); a graffiti project in Buenos Aires, Argentina by Cecile Perret (2010-2011); Los Angeles-based art critic, Matthew Schum’s review of the 2007 Istanbul Biennale and interview with its curator, Hou Hanru, as well as Schum’s 2012 ‘mobile debriefings’ from Documenta 13; Recoleta, grave rubbings in Buenos Aires by New York-based artist, Lisa Tan (2007); a project with poet Karla Diaz and artist Mario Ybarra Jr. for the Prague Biennale (2007); a mural in Los Angeles by the New Chinatown Barbershop and eight local graffiti artists (2006).
In 2006, the haudenschildGarage launched SPARE PARTS, a 3-year cycle of Garage Projects commissioned and produced by Eloisa Haudenschild and Steve Fagin. Projects included Decolonizing Architecture in Palestine (2007); A Crime Has Many Stories in Argentina (2008); and The Last Book in the U.S. (2009).
Decolonizing Architecture (2007) was a collaboration with London-based architect and theorist Eyal Weizman and Bethlehem-based architects Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti, and Giorgio Agamben that took the settlement of Psagot, overlooking Ramallah, and redesigned it for a post-evacuation time and context. The project included an exhibition and symposium at the Bozar Center for Fine Art in Brussels (2008-09) and was selected for the 11th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2008). A Crime Has Many Stories (2008) was a project based on the 1975 short story La Loca y el Relato del Crimen (Madwoman and the Story of a Crime) by Argentine author, Ricardo Piglia. As a part of the project, Washington Cucurto, an Argentine author from the literary collective Eloisa Cartonera, was commissioned to write the short-story, El Hijo, in response to Piglia’s. The project culminated in a multidisciplinary, one-day traverse of Buenos Aires that began at Malba and ended at La Boca. Participants included curators Sonia Becce and Judi Werthein, with Monica Jovanovich-Kelley, Alejandro Ruiz and artists Rosalba Mirabella, Roberto Jacoby, and Fernanda Laguna. The Last Book (2009), directed by Steve Fagin, attempted to resurrect the medieval illuminated manuscript through the invocation of today’s current alchemy - new technologies. Through this project, a one of a kind book was constructed that included text, drawings, moving images, and sound. The Last Book enlisted American author Mary Gaitskill, artists Leslie Thornton and Davina Semo, musician Greg Landau, Shanghai novelist Mian Mian, and YouTube. The Last Book’s only public performance took place in Los Angeles at the Schindler House (MAK Center for Art and Architecture) on April 26, 2009.
The haudenschildGarage presents two kinds of public events, Garage Talks and Fuel4Talks. Garage Talks tend to be open-to-the-public presentations that are often the culmination of a long-term project or exhibition and can range in form from moderated panels to lectures to multi-day symposia and performances. Fuel4Talks are smaller gatherings with visiting artists that include roundtables, interviews, and film screenings.
Past Fuel4Talks include Julian d’Angiolillo & Eduardo Molinari with Jennifer Flores Sternad (2012); Ming Wong with Aram Moshayedi (2012); Lincoln Schatz with Jordan Crandall and Monica Jovanovich-Kelley (2008); Eduardo Abaroa with Steve Fagin and Ruben Ortiz-Torres (2007); Martha Rosler (2007); Leslie Thornton (2007); Jim Nisbet (2007); Lisa Tan with Derrick Cartwright and Lauri Firstenberg (2007); Slavoj Zizek (2006); and the New York Orchard Group (2006).
Past Garage Talks include lectures by French philosopher Alain Badiou (2010); Argentine literary collective Eloisa Cartonera presentation with author Washington Cucurto (2009); Disorderly Conduct exhibition and panel, a collaboration with the Orange County Museum of Art with Mike Davis, Stephanie Hanor, Pearl C. Hsiung, Glenn Kaino, Martin Kersels and Daniel J. Martinez (2008); MOCA Allan Kaprow retrospective Travelog (2008); panel Art as Life with Jeff Kelley (2008); Candy and Panda Sex book discussion with Chinese author Mian Mian (2008); Three Tacos and a Martini event with Teddy Cruz, Michael Krichman, Josh Kun and Yvonne Venegas (2007); The Atlas Group talk with Walid Raad (2007); Alternative Universes: Emerging Artists’ Spaces panel with C. Ondine Chavoya, Rita Gonzalez, Nate Harrison, Bill Kelley Jr., Renoud Proch, Sergio de la Torre and Mario Ybarra Jr. (2006); Cities and Circuits – Urban Detours into New Media Practice panel with Ricardo Dominguez and Shuddhabrata Sengupta (2005); Asian Art Now panel with Norman Bryson, Doryun Chong, Eungie Joo, Betti-Sue Hertz, Mami Kataoka, Kuiyi Shen, Lesley Stern and Yukie Kamiya (2005); InSite_05 panels with Beverly Adams, Ruth Auerbach, Mark Bradford, Carmen Cuenca, Joshua Decter, Michael Krichman, Magaly Ponce, Osvaldo Sánchez, Javier Téllez and Mans Wrange (2005); Mexico City in the 1990s: The Paint's Not Dry panel with Carmen Cuenca, Gerardo Estrada, Steve Fagin, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Yoshua Okon, Roberto Tejada and Rubén Ortiz-Torres (2005).
Multi-year Garage Talks included conferences associated with the Political Equator. In 2006, Political Equator I: Urbanities of Labor and Surveillance was a three-day event with Teddy Cruz, Steve Fagin, Hou Hanru, Andrew Ross, Pi Li and Eyal Weizman. It also included the world premiere of Chinese artist Cao Fei’s video Whose Utopia (2006). The 2007 iteration: Political Equator II: Collective Territories/Territories of Collaboration, included Ala Plástica, the Urban Think Tank, Grant Kester, and Jennifer Flores-Sternad. The 2011 we presented Political Equator III: Conversations on Co-Existence, featuring Lucia Babina, Dana Cuff, Miguel Robles-Duran, Emiliano Gandolfi, Kelley Lindquist, Rick Lowe, Anuradha Mathur, Alejandro Meitin, Alessandro Petti, Gabriela Rendon, Sergio Fajardo Valderrama, and Eyal Weizman. Political Equator IV, taking place in Argentina, was co-curated by Alejandro Meitin of Ala Plastica, Maurico Corbalan of M7Red and Teddy Cruz with UCSD’s Center for Urban Ecologies. The events took place from 2014-2016 and amplified the local river basins of Argentina as trans-border laboratories to reimagine global environmental and public policy.
The haudenschildGarage routinely engages artists to undertake commissions, both in the United States and internationally. These commissions range from works of art to films to performances.
Past commissions include the 2014 documentary short directed by Itzel Martínez, Triples/Trillizos, which was an Official Selection at several international film festivals such as the Coronado Film Festival, La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA, New Orleans International Film Festival, Cortopolis in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Oaxaca Film Fest; a mural in Buenos Aires by Argentine artist Cécile Perret (2012); The Gift Exchange, a video by Chinese artist Yang Zhenzhong and Mexican artist Eduardo Abaroa (2011); the short story El Hijo by Washington Cucurto and a video of a reading of The Madwoman and the Story of a Crime by its author, Ricardo Piglia for the Garage Project A Crime Has Many Stories (2008); the design and construction of the modular Import/Export Table by Raul Cardenas of Torolab for the Political Equator II conferences (2007) which was constructed entirely out of the waste from exchanges between the US and Mexico; a graffiti mural in Los Angeles by eight LA-based graffiti artists in collaboration with the New Chinatown Barber Shop with Mario Ybarra Jr., Germs, Neo, Retna, Sherm, Spew and Zender and poet, performer and art critic Karla Diaz (2006); the Super Angel performance by Chinese artist, Shi Yong at SDSU (2003) and the video Let's Pray by Chinese artist Yang Zhenzhong (2003).
The haudenschildGarage has invited emerging and established global artists to be Artists-in-Residence in order to create new work. Residencies often culminate in a public talk or performance.
Past invited artists include Erick Meyenberg (2018) who created his garden installation EVEN WHEN FALL IS HERE, and Eduardo Costa (Cadu) (2018) who produced a sculpture Monumental Negative - A Family Portrait for THE GARDEN, Yang Zhenzhong and Eduardo Abaroa for the production of The Gift Exchange project (2011); Washington Cucurto and Maria Gomez from the Argentine literary collective, Eloisa Cartonera (2009); Chinese author Mian Mian discussing her banned novel, Candy (2000) and novel, Panda Sex (2009); Tom Zummer (2007); Chinese artists Yang Zhenzhong and Shi Yong, who produced new works while in residency, and Yang Zhenzhong's video I Will Die was selected for the 2004 Venice Biennale (2003).
The haudenschildGarage routinely supports programs that are in-line with its larger mission hosted by non-profits and arts organizations. These programs have included inSite, La Patronas, Athenaeum, exhibitions at REDCAT, the America’s Society New York, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the University Art Galleries of UCSD and SDSU and the exhibition Wandering Position: Selection from the inSite Archive at MUAC in Mexico City (2010); a documentary about the threat to local artisans in India, Tomorrow We Disappear (2014); a collaboration with the Warrior Foundation ~ Freedom Station on a project with veterans (2014); a short film by Samuel Curtis, The Piano & The Ballerina (2013); Centro de Investigaciones Artisticas (C.I.A.) seminars and panels in Buenos Aires (2012); the residency program of SOMA, a Mexico City-based alternative art space and school (2012); A Reason to Survive (ARTS) in San Diego, California, an annual commission for young artists (2012).
In 2015, the haudenschildGarage introduced projects in the garden. The first two projects included Mexican artist Erick Meyenberg's EVEN WHEN FALL IS HERE and Brazilian artist Eduardo Costa (Cadu)'s Monumental Negative - A Family Portrait.
Contemporary art in China reflects the country’s rising influence as an economic, political and cultural force in the global arena. Chinese artists are gaining international recognition for their potent artworks that address a rapidly changing society; influenced by Western ideals and art practice, their creative production nevertheless remains distinctly Chinese in its content and aesthetic.
Marking many important milestones, Zooming into Focus: Chinese Contemporary Photography and Video from the Haudenschild Collection (2003 – 2005) was the first exhibition of its kind in San Diego and Singapore and the first contemporary Chinese photography exhibition at the Centro Cultural Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time the Shanghai Art Museum exhibited works on contemporary Chinese video and photography from a private collection and most importantly, it was the first retrospective exhibition of Chinese photography and video ever held at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing.
Zooming into Focus investigated the effects of accelerated change in China through the work of the country’s most talented emerging artists. The swift transformation of Chinese culture is reflected in the work of each of these represented artists who comment on contemporary Chinese urban life with intelligence, wit, foreboding and nostalgia.
The works of Cao Fei, Chen Shaoxiong, Feng Mengbo, Geng Jianyi, Hong Hao, Hu Jieming, Kan Xuan, Lui Wei, Lu Chunsheng, Shi Yong, Song Tao, Tang Maohong, Wang Youshen, Weng Fen, Xiang Liqing, Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong, Yang Yong, Yang Zhenzhong, Zhao Bandi, Zheng Gougu and Zhu Jia were included in this exhibitions. Other artists in the collection include Gu Dexin, Hai Bo, Wang Jin, Yang Jiechang, Yu Youhan, Zhao Nengzhi, and Zhou Tiehai.
Lorenz Helbling and Laura Zhou supported all exhibitions. Shi Yong was responsible for the installation design of Zooming into Focus at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing and he also designed the Zooming into Focus catalog.
In addition to the traveling exhibitions, two symposia were held: An International Discourse on New Chinese Video and Photography at the San Diego Museum of Art and Envisioning the Future of Contemporary Art from Different Glocal Positions at the China National Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China.
The haudenschildGarage launched its residency program in 2003 which invited Chinese artists and curators for the first time to the United States. Shi Yong and Yang Zhenzhong were the first artists in residence and Hou Hanru, Cao Fei, Yang Fudong, Laura Zhou, Lorenz Helbling, Evelyn Jouanno, and Victoria Lu were also invited to the Garage. Both Shi Yong and Yang Zhenzhong produced new works commissioned by the haudenschildGarage while in residence.
Exhibition Schedule
STATION I: San Diego, California
University Art Gallery, San Diego State University
October 25, 2003 – April 21, 2004
STATION II: Shanghai, China
Shanghai Art Museum
February 18 – March 30, 2004
STATION III: Tijuana, Mexico
Centro Cultural Tijuana
June 25 – August 23, 2004
STATION IV: Singapore
Institute of Contemporary Art, Earl Lu Gallery LASALLE-SIA
August 11 – September 11, 2005
STATION V: Beijing, China
National Museum of China
November 5 – 20, 2005
In 2018, the Haudenschild Collection was donated to the Hammmer Museum at UCLA in Los Angeles. It is hoped that through the Hammer, the collection will be made available not only for exhibition, but also for research by scholars and others interested in this formative decade in contemporary Chinese art.