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Jaime Davidovich

Mr. Davidovich was born in 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has gained considerable recognition in his country as one of the leading young contemporary artists and as a prominent art educator.

Prior to coming to the United States he was instructor of painting, art history and visual education at the Institute of Visual Arts in Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires. He also was a guest lecturer at the University of the South in Argentina. In the United States he worked as a graphic designer for Random House and presently is Design Director for Napcoware in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mr. Davidovich's works have been exhibited at the Spectrum Gallery in New York, The Art Institute in Canton, Ohio, several shows in Argentina since 1956, at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil, and most recently at Lake Eerie College in Ohio.

As he considers himself a constant researcher, we quote from a project submitted to the Experiments in Art and Technology: "My present work consists of the utilization of extra heavy cloth adhesive tape as a technical and aesthetic element. The concept is to create a visual experience without boundaries or frame around the art-work. The relationship of object and background is eliminated, and this work can not be held, only seen. The environment is made in and for a single place and thus the tape will become part of the physical structure of the wall. The viewer will be confronted with an open-out artwork without a window or center-view."

Note: The Iberamerican Celebration will feature a sample of Mr. Davidovich's experiments in the form of an "Argentinian Adhesive Tape Happening at 5:05".

Juan Mercadal

Juan Mercadal was born February 12, 1925 in Guanabacoa, a town four miles from Havana, Cuba. When he was five years old, he began his guitar studies with his father and later continued with his father's teacher, Dr. Severino Lopez. He showed interest in the guitar at the early age of two when he would stay close beside his father and the teacher, lying on the floor listening to them rather than out playing elsewhere. He was educated at the Escolapios College in Havana. His music education was completed at the Conservatory of Mateu.

His first stage appearance was at the age of six and his first formal recital was at the age of 13. He studied French horn with Manuel Zaeczumaga and played the French horn with the Havana Symphony Orchestra when he was 15 years old. In his native Cuba, he performed extensively for almost all the music clubs and music societies.

Mr. Mercadal has performed recitals and radio concerts in Brazil and was soloist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. One of the most distinguished Brazilian composers, Radames Gnattali, a good friend of Mercadal, composed a concerto for him that was premiered in Rio de Janeiro with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in 1953. Composer Terig Tucci also has written several compositions for him.

In Argentina Mr. Mercadal played a series of 17 television concerts - most unusual for commercial television - on Channel 13 in Buenos Aires.

Juan Mercadal has performed twice with the Miami Philharmonic, with the Jacksonville Philharmonic, and with Fort Meyers and the Florida West Coast Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota, Florida. He has performed with the University of Miami Orchestra, and has performed most chamber music that includes the guitar. Together with Victor Stern, Violist, (Stern-Mercadal Viola-Guitar Duo) he has performed extensively both original and adapted repertoire.

Mercadal has been Associate Professor of Music at the University of Miami School of Music since 1965. Also, for the last two years, he has been a faculty member at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina.

Participants

Feliciano Bejar-
One of the top Mexican artists who has established himself internationally as a sculptor and painter. He is also an architect and graphic designer. He has exhibited in Latin America, United States and Europe. Currently his work appears in the New York Museum of Modern Art and the Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, and the Heritage Gallery in Los Angeles, California.