Jonathas de Andrade: One to One is the first major solo presentation of Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade in a US museum. Working across mediums including film, sculpture, photography, and the written word, de Andrade turns a keen sociological eye to the contexts of underdevelopment, especially the failed promise of modernism in Brazil and Latin America at large. The importance of architecture and the built environment permeates each of the intersecting themes of the exhibition—race, class, and labor—and is charged with an undercurrent of sexuality and eroticism that challenges heteronormative modes of moving through space. De Andrade’s work fundamentally demonstrates the effects of place on interpersonal networks and vice versa. At once intimate and sociological, it models a way of getting to know a region, city, or single building through exploring the relationships between the people who inhabit it. To further this aim, a major new commission forms the centerpiece of the exhibition.

Jonathas de Andrade (b. 1982, Maceió, Brazil) studied communications at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife. He collects and catalogues architecture, images, and texts to recompose a personal narrative of the past through photography, installation and video. Solo museum exhibitions include Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2013); Musée d’art Contemporain de Montréal (2013); Museu de Arte do Rio (2014-2015); Museu de Arte de São Paulo (2016-17); and The Power Plant, Toronto (2017). He has participated at the Mercosul Biennial, Porto Alegre (2009); New Museum Triennial, New York (2011); 29th São Paulo Biennial (2011); Istanbul Biennial (2011); Lyon Biennial (2013); Performa15, New York (2015); São Paulo Biennial (2016); and in SITE Santa Fe (2016). De Andrade's work was also included in group exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, New York (2014), the Walker Art Center (2016-17), and The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2017). De Andrade lives and works in Recife.

José Esparza Chong Cuy is the Pamela Alper Associate Curator. Trained as an architect, Esparza Chong Cuy received a MS in Critical, Curatorial, and Conceptual Practices in Architecture from Columbia University in 2012. Prior to joining the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016, he was associate curator at the Museo Jumex in Mexico City. He is a former curatorial associate of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York. He has also held a Curatorial Fellowship position at the New Museum and was the New York Correspondent for Domus magazine. In 2013, he served as cocurator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennial.

Founded in 1967, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is an innovative and compelling center of contemporary art where the public can experience the work and ideas of living artists, and understand the historical, social, and cultural context of the art of our time. The museum boldly interweaves exhibitions, performances, collections, and educational programs to excite, challenge, and illuminate our visitors and offer insight into the creative process. The MCA engages diverse audiences and creates a sense of community by providing a place to contemplate and discuss contemporary art and culture and issues of our day.