
AVA COLLECTION 2023
"MIGRATION: AUDUBON REIMAGINED"
GUIDELINES
- AVA is inviting a group of visual artists from the Americas to reinterpret an illustration from the book “The Birds of America” by John James Audubon, supplied by AVA in high quality print.
- Art curators Adriana Meneses and Alex Brahim will help select and convene these artists.
- The artist will choose an illustration from Audubon's book of a bird that migrates from North America to South America, Central America, or the Caribbean (information about 30 migratory birds is available below).
- The technique to be used in the reinterpretation of the illustration is the free choice of each artist, who may use a physical part of the supplied illustration in their new composition, all of it if they prefer, or just use it as inspiration.
- The size of the work should be less than 50 x 70 cm (2D) or 50 cm (3D).
- The poem 'Migration' by Pablo Neruda will serve as the leitmotif of the entire collection, giving it coherence and meaning. Each artist will choose a phrase from the poem to include it as part of their work.
- An online auction will begin several weeks in advance to the III Panamerican Benefit Gala-Show on October 27, 2023. That night, the works will be displayed in a place to be announced.
- The deadline for artists to submit their works is September 15th, 2023.
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What makes a book of birds so valuable as to be sold for $11.5 million?
John James Audubon's "The Birds of America" is a monumental work of art and ornithology that is highly regarded for its scientific accuracy and breathtaking illustrations. It was published between 1827 and 1838 and contains 435 life-size illustrations of birds native to North America, accompanied by detailed scientific descriptions of each species. Only 120 copies of the book are believed to exist today inspiring and fascinating people around the world.
"The Birds of America" was not only a work of art, but also a scientific achievement. The book is famous for its exquisite illustrations, which are considered among the most beautiful and accurate ever produced. Audubon was a skilled artist who devoted years to observing and sketching birds in their natural habitats. He used a unique method of creating life-size illustrations by arranging the birds in natural poses, then painting them in meticulous detail.
The book has fetched millions of dollars several times. In 2000, a Qatari prince and art collector purchased one for $8.8 million. Another copy sold for $5 million in 2005, and in 2010, the highest bid went for $11.5 million. In 2012, another full edition of "Birds of America" sold for $7.9 million, and in 2018, another copy sold for $9.6 million. Adjusted for inflation, these copies of Birds of America have sold for over $51 million.
From North to South and back
Audubon through color, Neruda through words…
Every year, millions of birds in North America embark on a remarkable journey to warmer climates in Central and South America. This migration is driven by the changing seasons and the need to find food and suitable breeding grounds. Birds like the ruby-throated hummingbird, yellow warbler, and the Baltimore oriole fly thousands of miles across oceans, deserts, and mountains to reach their wintering grounds in countries like Mexico, Panama, and Brazil.
The migration is a perilous journey, and many birds do not survive the long flights or the challenges they face in unfamiliar territories. However, this annual migration is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of these remarkable creatures and a marvel of nature that continues to fascinate and inspire us.
MIGRACIÓN
Pablo Neruda
Todo el día una línea y otra línea,
un escuadrón de plumas,
un navío
palpitaba en el aire,
atravesaba
el pequeño infinito
de la ventana desde donde busco,
interrogo, trabajo, acecho, aguardo.
La torre de la arena
y el espacio marino
se unen allí, resuelven
el canto, el movimiento.
Encima se abre el cielo.
Entonces así fue: rectas, agudas,
palpitantes, pasaron
hacia dónde? Hacia el Norte, hacia el Oeste,
hacia la claridad,
hacía la estrella,
hacia el peñón de soledad y sal
donde el mar desbarata sus relojes.
Era un ángulo de aves
dirigidas
aquella latitud de hierro y nieve
que avanzaba
sin tregua
en su camino rectilíneo:
era la devorante rectitud
de una flecha evidente,
los números del cielo que viajaban
a procrear formados
por imperioso amor y geometría.
Yo me empeñé en mirar hasta perder
los ojos y no he visto
sino el orden del vuelo,
la multitud del ala contra el viento:
vi la serenidad multiplicada
por aquel hemisferio transparente
cruzado por la oscura decisión
de aquellas aves en el firmamento.
No vi sino el camino.
Todo siguió celeste.
Pero en la muchedumbre de las aves
rectas a su destino
una bandada y otra dibujaban
victorias
triangulares
unidas por la voz de un solo vuelo,
por la unidad del fuego,
por la sangre,
por la sed, por el hambre,
por el frío,
por el precario día que lloraba
antes de ser tragado por la noche,
por la erótica urgencia de la vida:
la unidad de los pájaros
volaba
hacia las desdentadas costas negras,
peñascos muertos, islas amarillas,
donde el sol dura más que su jornada
y en el cálido mar se desarrolla
el pabellón plural de las sardinas.
En la piedra asaltada
por los pájaros
se adelantó el secreto:
piedra, humedad, estiércol, soledad,
fermentarán y bajo el sol sangriento
nacerán arenosas criaturas
que alguna vez regresarán volando
hacia la huracanada luz del frío,
hacia los pies antárticos de Chile.
Ahora cruzan, pueblan la distancia
moviendo apenas en la luz las alas
como si en un latido las unieran,
vuelan sin desprenderse
del cuerpo migratorio
que en tierra se divide
y se dispersa.
Sobre el agua, en el aire,
el ave innumerable va volando,
la embarcación es una,
la nave transparente
construye la unidad con tantas alas,
con tantos ojos hacia el mar abiertos
que es una sola paz la que atraviesa
y sólo un ala inmensa se desplaza.
Ave del mar, espuma migratoria,
ala del Sur, del Norte, ala de ola,
racimo desplegado por el vuelo,
multiplicado corazón hambriento,
llegarás, ave grande, a desgranar
el collar de los huevos delicados
que empolla el viento y nutren las arenas
hasta que un nuevo vuelo multiplica
otra vez vida, muerte, desarrollo,
gritos mojados, caluroso estiércol,
y otra vez a nacer, a partir, lejos
del páramo y hacia otro páramo.
Lejos
de aquel silencio, huid, aves del frío
hacia un vasto silencio rocalloso
y desde el nido hasta el errante número,
flechas del mar, dejadme
la húmeda gloria del transcurso,
la permanencia insigne de las plumas
que nacen, mueren, duran y palpitan
creando pez a pez su larga espada,
crueldad contra crueldad la propia luz
y a contraviento y contramar, la vida.
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What could be more Panamerican than these migratory birds?
the artists

Olivia Walker
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Tess Anderson

Dan Mitchell
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Tess Anderson
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Noah Patterson
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Tess Anderson
30 migratory birds of the americas

























(SLIDE AND CLICK for more info of each bird)
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Audubon Art Plate 2
WORK IN PROGRESS BY:
Olivia Walker, Dan Mitchell
Yellow-Billed Cuckoos migrate to South America for the winter. East coast birds travel via Central America and the West Indies; western birds likely move down the western slope of Mexico and through Central America.

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Prothonotary Warbler
Audubon Art Plate 3
WORK IN PROGRESS BY:
Olivia Walker, Dan Mitchell
The Prothonotary Warbler migrates across the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico where it follows the Atlantic slope south. Winters in the tropics in lowland woods and mangrove swamps. In southeastern swamps in summer, this bright golden warbler sings from high in the trees.

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Baltimore Oriole
Audubon Art Plate 12
WORK IN PROGRESS BY:
Olivia Walker, Dan Mitchell
Baltimore Orioles spend summer and winter in entirely different ranges. From early April to late May, flocks arrive in eastern and central North America to breed from Louisiana through central Canada. They start to leave as early as July for wintering grounds in Florida, the Caribbean, Central America, and the northern tip of South America.
