Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez,
Imprints
405_Gallery Main Space, July 3 - August 21, 2020
Imprints
405_Gallery Main Space, July 3 - August 21, 2020
405_Gallery presents Imprints, an exhibition of works by US-based, Cuban artist Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez. It brings into conversation a number of drawings, paintings, and digitally-produced images, all taken from different points in his career. He has exhibited widely in the United States as well as Germany, Spain, and Switzerland; he has been subject to much press coverage, and his work has received many awards.
INSTALLATION VIEWS
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CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Gonzalez Alvarez cites the origins of his artistic career to the time when his family emigrated from Cuba to the United States when he was a child. He found himself exposed to the mechanical industry, being the son of a worker in the field; from this emerged an interest in understanding objects by taking apart their constituent elements.
This analytical inclination extends to his interest in history and anthropology. These are fields which feed his work, and guide the intellectual scope of his practice. He draws from sources such as the history of ancient cultures, linguistics, and self-directed archeological studies. Yet, he is not interested in merely revisiting the past; rather, he frames the results of his investigations through the digital/capitalist context of the 21st century—thus finding points of continuity across time.
The works in this exhibition present images and objects that Gonzalez Alvarez describes as ‘devoid of provenance.’ They are intuitive gestures which resist any efforts at identification with a particular place in history or geographic location. They speak to protolanguages, material evidence of ritual practices, and the archaic mark-making instinct. Yet, these objects are often fabricated using computer software; they are also influenced by elements of contemporary culture such as corporate symbols, emojis, advertisements, etc.
These familiar (yet ‘indeterminably foreign’) visual elements in Gonzalez Alvarez’s work come from a balance between scientific and anthropological sources. The results may resonate with us by alluding to a shared evolutionary past that has long been buried in the subconscious, or through references to our present hyperconnected world. Gonzalez Alvarez moves with ease in-between the ‘ethereal plane’ of the digital and a rigorous material execution. This creates a friction that leave the viewer with many things to consider long after they’ve left the presence of the work.
Dario S. Bucheli, 2020
Director, 405_Gallery
This analytical inclination extends to his interest in history and anthropology. These are fields which feed his work, and guide the intellectual scope of his practice. He draws from sources such as the history of ancient cultures, linguistics, and self-directed archeological studies. Yet, he is not interested in merely revisiting the past; rather, he frames the results of his investigations through the digital/capitalist context of the 21st century—thus finding points of continuity across time.
The works in this exhibition present images and objects that Gonzalez Alvarez describes as ‘devoid of provenance.’ They are intuitive gestures which resist any efforts at identification with a particular place in history or geographic location. They speak to protolanguages, material evidence of ritual practices, and the archaic mark-making instinct. Yet, these objects are often fabricated using computer software; they are also influenced by elements of contemporary culture such as corporate symbols, emojis, advertisements, etc.
These familiar (yet ‘indeterminably foreign’) visual elements in Gonzalez Alvarez’s work come from a balance between scientific and anthropological sources. The results may resonate with us by alluding to a shared evolutionary past that has long been buried in the subconscious, or through references to our present hyperconnected world. Gonzalez Alvarez moves with ease in-between the ‘ethereal plane’ of the digital and a rigorous material execution. This creates a friction that leave the viewer with many things to consider long after they’ve left the presence of the work.
Dario S. Bucheli, 2020
Director, 405_Gallery