Biography
I was born in Buenos Aires on the 17 of December, 1961. I consider myself self-taught, though from adolescence somehow I made up for my lack of studies by attending workshops and by being surrounded by artists such as Pablo Suárez, Alberto Heredia, Emilio Renart, Victor Grippo, and Roberto Jacoby, among others.
I lived for almost eight years in Rio de Janeiro, I exhibit there and in Buenos Aires since the early eighties, mainly in bars and alternative locations and returned permanently to Buenos Aires in 1988.
In 1989 we did the first of four exhibitions along with Pablo Suarez and Marcelo Pombo, at the CCRojas photo space. I began my relationship with the Ruth Benzacar gallery in 1992 when I took part of a group exhibition. I produced and I exhibited a lot until 1993, since then my occurrences began demanding hard work and become increasingly expensive, so I went down with the exhibiting frequency. Until 2002 there were several years in which I produced only one or two works. My first solo exhibition in the gallery Benzacar Ruth was in 1998, the next important showing was the last meeting of the trio, after 10 years, also at Ruth Benzacar in 2001. Another work I liked was made in 2003, a selection of 15 years of work at the National Museum of Fine Arts. This September 2008 I’ll be showing individually in the gallery Ruth Benzacar after 10 years. Meanwhile I was also showing abroad. I won some awards in recent years, a scholarship and a grant.
Vision of art
1. Choose a work that represents you, describe it in relation to its format and materiality, its relation with time and space, its style and theme; detail its production process.
I thought of several possible works that I think represent different aspects of me, some more than others. I was going to choose the "Philosophical Garden" an object of 1997, which for me is the most emblematic, but "thrown into emptiness" is a work that represents me fairly, and now, having a second look at it, as much earlier and foundational work of my interests, surely it is also more comprehensive. It is a painting, acrylic and contact adhesive paper wood grain on another adhesive contact paper, also wood imitation (other kind). It is mounted on hardboard, measuring 105 x 65 cm. and it is from 1988. At that time, I saw it and worked it as a self-portrait that clearly illustrated my feeling of my life: in free fall, (I took the drawing streak of wood as an effect of movement or velocity). In this picture there is something that interested me a lot: the importance of the material itself (wood grain contact paper as a background) is parallel to the narrative of the item (the frozen image of a body falling in speed), and this is accentuated with the idea that what happens in one affects the other, the character's body is falling behind him bored and so the background does (with the idea that through these the wall will be found).
The level of importance of the actual registration of the material and fantasy is actually similar and it ends up joining, mixing, on the surface.
I pointed out there the surface as the place in which my work would end up moving more comfortably, until today.
Industrial Materials marked with an emotional depth, at the beginning unexpectedly human and rather strange lately, with the feeling that something is about to happen here or a little beyond the surface.
Moreover, this type of operations is visual, the use of notorious material, pre-made images and the collage, reinforcing my intention to capture and guide the viewer's gaze. After so long, I see that the break I was living then was being accompanied by the integration of these elements into my work: background figure, materialism, narrative and my interest to what was happening on the surface of things; issues that continue to define me and interest me over the years.
2. In general terms, how would you suggest to approach your work?
With time, without rush, not trying to find something to read.
I do my thing to provoke a particular viewer's approach to my work, but the rest is up to them. Going back to the literal of the question, I do things to see and so best thing to read are books, which you have to enter in a certain way in order to enjoy them fully and transforming what is read into something that may become a lasting image or thought. The opposite effect is achieved when a text is a tool to supplement a work of art, or tries to translate visual ideas into words.
When one “watches”, ones associates to the object differently, feels and thinks differently. The perception of what you see is of another order, the presence of the object sets another kind of experience than reading.
To observe it without reading it would be what I wish to my viewers, if it happened that for at least a moment they were lost in time, concerned by what they see, also without knowing why, flowing in possible meanings, ideas or whatever, even better.
3. In reference to your work and your position in the national and international art fields, what tradition do you recognize yourself in? Who are your contemporary referents? What artists of previous generations are of interest to you?
I never gave real importance to the theme / topic, or find the interest to do so. I think what I responded to is a combination of very heterogeneous elements that will not let me find a tradition in which I could recognize myself. Over time I have seen some of the relationships with the formal aspect of Emilio Renart’s work and sometimes with Santantonin Ruben’s, also with Lucio Fontana, Gyula Kosice, some of the spirit of Madi. I also like Molina Campos, Pablo Alberto Heredia, Norberto Suarez Gomez, Antonio Berni, Jorge de la Vega and Fermin Eguia. Marcelo Pombo and Sebastian Gordin can also be noted as my fetish artists.
But my most important and perhaps the only one who at the time felt like a reference: Pablo Suarez.
4. Choose works or exhibitions from the last ten or fifteen years which in your opinion were very significant and explain why
I remember having always intensely enjoyed all exhibitions by Pablo Suarez, Marcia Schwartz of Marcelo Pombo and Sebastian Gordin.
I remember now the one from The Bulgarian at the the CCRecoleta with the collaboration in the assembly of Roberto Fernandez, What I liked about the show were the last samples: windows of Natural Sciences museum full of these ceramic bugs, fishes and frogs, they all seemed to have life and to be waiting for some sudden event to happen. It had a surprising tension. A sample of such traditional and economic resources that without standing for the mainstream’s speeches showed that you can do a work that goes beyond expectations. I also remember the work-experience- Darkroom by Roberto Jacoby at Belleza y Felicidad Gallery, was a well-developed idea, and thought to be the image etched in the memory. In the field of visual arts, where the memory of everything seen evaporates quickly, this surprised me.
Unable to explain it, that is exactly what happened to me with some other exhibitions that I now remember such as Elba Bairon’s, quiet, intense, strange, soft, mysterious, not always easy but nice. Elba’s work is always a pleasure. In general I'm encouraged to see works by Stupía, Guadalupe Fernandez, Mariano Grassi, Marcelo Alcetta of Oligatega Numeric, and hope to see Patricia Dominguez again. I have also enjoyed showing by Federico Manuel Peralta Ramos, Benito Laren, Fabio Kacero Omar Schirilo, Daniel Joglar, Robert Jacoby, Gustavo Marrone, Paul Siquier, Sergio Avello and Liliana Maresca. This list can be endless really ... now I can not name Tony Cragg in Cronopios, loved Niky de Saint Phalle at the Museum of Fine Arts a couple of years ago and a self portrait that Guadalupe Fernandez exhibited this year.
