New York. The Iván Tovar Foundation and the Times Square Alliance unveiled at Times Square “Tovar The Chair,” a public art initiative showcasing a large-scale evolution of one of the most famous works by the Dominican surrealist artist Iván Tovar, available to the public until November 15th of this year.
Situated at the heart of Times Square, this art piece is expected to attract thousands of tourists, the Latin community in New York, and the more than 800,000 Dominicans residing in the city or its outskirts.
The unveiling of Tovar The Chair initiates the Hispanic Heritage Month and marks the centennial celebrations of the first surrealist manifesto with this public art proposal, also known as “La Chaise Adulte” or “The Adult Chair.”
The event was hosted by Marianne Cruz and featured the opening of Tovar The Chair. Key speakers included Congressman Adriano Espaillat, representative for New York’s 13th congressional district; Daniela Tovar Castillo, President of the Iván Tovar Foundation; Ydanis Rodríguez, New York City’s Transportation Commissioner; Carolina Mejía, Mayor of Santo Domingo, National District, Dominican Republic; Gamal Michelén, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Dominican Republic; Jacqueline Mora, Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Dominican Republic; Laurie Cumbo, New York City’s Cultural Affairs Commissioner; and Héctor José Rizek Sued, a member of the Iván Tovar Foundation and patron of the Tovar The Chair project. Dominican tenor Enrique Pina performed the national anthems of the United States of America and the Dominican Republic. A dramatic reading of Iván Tovar’s autobiographical poem from 1973 featured Dominican actor Mario Peguero, based in New York, under the direction of María Castillo.
The sculpture was unveiled by Adriano Espaillat, Carolina Mejía, Laurie Cumbo, Gamal Michelén, Ydanis Rodríguez, Jacqueline Mora, Héctor José Rizek, Bethania de Rizek, Jorge Durán, Daniela Tovar, Mariella Acebal Rizek, María Castillo, Yuri Ruiz Villalona, Jottin Cury, and Lilian Carrasco de Cury.
ABOUT IVÁN TOVAR
IVÁN TOVAR
(1942-2020)
Born on March 28, 1942, in San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte province, in the northwest of the Dominican Republic, Iván Tovar showed a talent for the visual arts from a young age and enrolled in the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo in 1955, staying until 1961. He explored techniques such as drawing, painting, engraving, sculpture, and object art.
In 1963, Tovar settled in Paris, where he defined his artistic style. There, he mingled with various artists and intellectuals, including French art critic José Pierre, who supported him throughout much of his career, including his first solo exhibition in the French capital. At this exhibition, Tovar presented 28 works at the Gallery 3 + 2, selling all but one: La Chaise Adulte, which he chose to keep for his personal collection.
In 1979, Tovar returned to Santo Domingo, where he continued to refine his art. In 2017, he made his home in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. A year later, the Dominican government honored him with the National Visual Arts Prize through the Ministry of Culture. Despite a peaceful and satisfying life in Spain, Tovar returned home for the last time, passing away in Santo Domingo on April 13, 2020.
Iván Tovar’s works have gained significant international recognition, valued by prestigious auction houses worldwide. In France, his works have been presented in prominent spaces such as Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Piasa, Artcurial, Pierre Bergé, Barón Ribeyre, Auction Rémy Le Fur & Associés, Paris Encheres-Collin du Bocage, Cornette De Saint Cyr, Tajan, Ader Nordmann, Crait + Müller, Pousse-Cornet-Valoir, FauveParis, Delon-Hoebanx, Boisseau-Pomez, Rennes Enchères, Morel Christophe, Briest, and Vermot, as well as Blanchet. In Belgium, Tovar’s works have been collected in auctions such as De Vuyst, Campo & Campo, DVC, Bernaerts, and Flanders Auctions. Also, at Stockholm Auktionsverk, Bukowski Stockholm, and Metropol Auktioner; and Farsettiarte in Italy. His legacy has expanded to Sotheby’s New York and Amsterdam, affirming his undisputed significance in modern and contemporary art.
His works have been displayed in Stockholm, Luxembourg, New York, Miami, Chicago, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Also, in Lisbon and Vilamoura in Portugal; in Venice and Rome in Italy; in Paris, Cahors, Nimes, and Lyons in France; in Basel, Oslo, and Copenhagen. Furthermore, they have been shown in Madrid and Santiago de Compostela in Spain, as well as in Brussels, London, Cologne, Caracas, Montreal, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, and, of course, the Dominican Republic. Valuable pieces of his work are preserved in the Museum of Modern Art and the Bellapart Museum in Santo Domingo, as well as in the Centro León Jimenes in Santiago de los Caballeros, in the BAM – Mons Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, MAC/VAL – Museum of Contemporary Art of the Val-de-Marne department near Paris, the National Center for Visual Arts in France, among others.
ABOUT THE IVÁN TOVAR FOUNDATION
In 2021, the Iván Tovar Foundation was established to preserve and promote the legacy of the Dominican visual artist Iván Tovar. The foundation’s first endeavor was to open the exhibition Bocetos de la Familia at the Museum of the Royal Houses along with the first immersive exhibition in the Dominican Republic, Tovar: Surrealismo Vivo, at the Plaza de España in the Colonial City, both in Santo Domingo in 2022.
A year later, the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo hosted the initiative: Tovar Retrospectivo, 2023. This was a venture of the Iván Tovar Foundation in partnership with the Museum of Modern Art Volunteer Group. And, in 2024, the project Tovar Infinito, a century of surrealism, turned CARTEL’s electronic billboards into urban canvases to spread his art in Santo Domingo, Punta Cana, and Santiago de los Caballeros. Additionally, the exhibition: “Diálogos Oníricos” was presented at the Bellapart Museum in Santo Domingo. Now, Tovar The Chair is displayed in Times Square, New York.
creditos de las imagenes de este post: Elpregonerord.com
