by Patricia Frischer
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| Aldo Chaparro |
Aldo Chaparro: That elusive sentiment at Madison Gallery
Showing from Jan 28 end March 18
I
was first attracted to view this exhibition because of the wonderful announcement card that was sent by email. Later I was told, this was a scene from the artist Aldo Chaparro’s studio. When I arrived at Madison Gallery, I was
expecting lavish color posts, but what I found was lots of color in quite
different mediums for this artist who works in a great variety of materials. The
stark white, black and gold shaped wood columns were minimalistic compared to a
single highly colored sculpture on view. This pigment on that wood
played with your eyes creating positive spaces from the white background walls.
Close up you can see the grain of the wood and the cuts made to shape them, displaying a rich texture. Next to those works were draped and folded shiny metal
works, actually made at the venue, as well as a mirrored installation, and
various highly colored canvases of shapes.
I
learned from Lorna York, the director of the Madison Gallery that Aldo Chaparro
is a Mexican artist born in 1965 who divides his time between Mexico City,
Monterrey, Lima, Madrid, Paris, and Southern California. He has an accomplished
exhibition record and the illusive sentiment in the title of the show might refer to some hidden message, but I choose to simply look a the play of color and shape and how it often fools the eye.
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| Aldo Chaparro |
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| Aldo Chaparro |
Here is a full explanation of the metal works from the gallery: Aldo Chaparro's sculptures made with bent steel are the result of his ongoing relationship with the material. Steel has been present in mankind since ancient times. However, the steel sheets used by Chaparro are characteristic of the industrial era. Their slimness, neatness and their reflective quality can only be achieved through machines, and because of that, the sculptures' violent nature creates great contrast with the nature of the sheets, as Chaparro kicks, bends, and jumps on them using nothing but his body and his own weight. The objects resulting of his confrontation with the material are the evidence, that on the same way criminalistics allow the reconstruction of a crime, portray the process that transformed the material into an artistic object. In this way, his bent steels can be interpreted as self-portraits as they capture the energy released by Chaparro on a specific date and time. As the mirroring accuracy on the steel sheets distorts itself, the sculptures function as goggles that allow us to experience reality on a parallel way. The mirror is then the transit from auto- erotism to the viewer's self- contemplation. They trigger our sense of exploration so sight can transform into knowledge using the sculptures' surface as its theater. The eyes triumph over the sense of touch. The sculptures create reflections (on both senses) on several and very different ways. By their reflecting power, they transform the body in an alternate and untouchable version of ourselves.
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| Aldo Chaparro |
I
was lucky to see two examples of painting by the Cuban artist Angel
Ricardo Rios also born in 1965. I
was very drawn to these works with the aspects of drawing combined with a
mastery of color brush work. They are powerful works with single color
backgrounds.
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| Angel Ricardo Rios |
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| Angel Ricardo Rios |
The
next exhibition at Madison is William
Lachance: TIMESHARE starting March
25 to June 3 2023. This show was cancelled from its previous December, 2022
launch date and is his 2nd solo show in Solana Beach. These painted
collages with their pop images are familiar and new at the same time.
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| William Lachance |
Aldo Chaparro: That elusive sentiment at Madison Gallery
Showing from Jan 28 end March 18
320 S Cedros Ave suite 200, Solana Beach 92075
Regular Gallery Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11am-4pm
More info: Lorna York (858) 523-9155
William
Lachance: TIMESHARE at Madison Gallery Started March 25 to June 3 2023
Angel Ricardo Rios: viewing by request
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