Damian Ortega

FIRST TAKE

ONE OF A COTERIE GROUPED AROUND MEXICO CITY'S Galeria Kurimanzutto, Damian Ortega conceives his artworks not as discrete, rarefied objects but rather as forms of action combining material with thought. The young Mexican artist leaped onto the international stage this fall with "Cosmic Thing," a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, which followed contributions in 2001 to a number of notable group shows, like "Squatters #1" at Witte de With, Rotterdam, and the Museu de Arte Contemporanea de Serralves, Porto, and "Animations" at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. If you're traveling south this winter, check him out (through March i) …