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  Roots by Monica Araoz |
South-of-the-border Modernism on Fifth South-of-the-border Modernism on
Fifth By V. Marc Fort Pulsing, spurting blood-reds explode upon the canvas, covered by dark azures of the West Texas sky, covered once again by jagged black lines. Meanwhile, layers of smaller black squiggles and "X"'s rise and fall, resembling a building, a saxophone, a skeleton, and other forms of gross anatomy. Del Rio artist, Adrian Jesus Falcon's artistic mission statement mandates leaving the details of interpretation open, allowing the viewer to incorporate his own consciousness to dictate exactly what it is they see racing or copulating across the canvas. Saturday, four Mexican artists - Monica Araoz, Adrian Jesus Falcon, Eduardo Lazo Cantu and Gabriela Villareal Villareal - from varying backgrounds and styles came together for the first time to display their work as a part of Art on 5th current exhibit, Modern Mexican Masters. The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 10. Anchoring the exhibit with its enormous scale and bravado of color, Falcon included three series of six mixed-media paintings created directly on a "petate" instead of a canvas. The petate is a large, hand-woven mat made from palm leaves by the indigenous peoples of Falcon's father's ancestral home in the town of Ixmiquilpan, in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. The petate - which dates back to the Aztecs and Mayans - are traditionally utilized as a place to sleep for the poor, a birthing mat and, eventually, a death shroud. "Diego Rivera often painted the petate on the backs of the people," said Falcon. "I took the other step and painted the abstract art on to the petate." Falcon possessed a knowing smile and modest pride at his ingenious ability to turn Rivera's artistic convention on its head. Falcon explained that he creates his paintings while listening to heavy metal, classical and jazz at very loud volumes. "I see the canvas, hit the Metallica, and go for it," Falcon said. Oil paints, acrylics, wood-filler, glue, charcoal and even organic human and animal hair fuse together on the canvas beneath Falcon's hand, resembling the measured fury of Jackson Pollock while clearly following a thematic tradition began by Mexican muralists such as Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. Contrasting the chaos of 21st century modernism upon a vastly different point in the artistic spectrum, Austinite Araoz uses order and quietude to examine the beauty in nature. Araoz's paintings magnified nature: the rains drops, the shifting brown earth, the width of the sky and the temperature of grass-under-foot. Araoz's paintings revealed an order in the universe. "I don't watch television... I don't like it," Araoz said. Her art reflects her mind's absence of popular cultural influences. Araoz's lack of 21st century popular culture influences yields her subjects as abstract forms that never reflect anything modern, despite her style being influenced by 20th century Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism. "Who cannot be inspired by nature," said Araoz. "I find beauty in simple things ... when I see a color or texture, I just make it bigger." Her paintings come from experiments in her mind explored in various mixed-media upon canvas. "Sometimes I'm surprised with what I get," Araoz said. Somewhere inbetween Araoz's magnified depictions of nature and the bombastic, almost violent paintings of Falcon, were the serene impressionist paintings of artistic collaborators, Cantu and Villareal Villareal. Both natives of Monterrey, Mexico, the husband and wife team creates art as "The Aktual Artists," and under several other pseudonyms. Cantu and Villareal Villareal combined forces to capture balance and harmony, truly closer to Araoz's magnifications of nature. |
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 Vortex by Sean Perry |
Lens: George Krause + Sean Perry By Jacqueline May The two-person exhibition of photographs at D Berman Gallery explores a spiritual territory within the pragmatic. The Bauhaus credo, "form follows function," is plainly evident within these two artists' visions. And visions they have, make no mistake. George Krause presents a group of larger-than-life black-and-white nude portraits called Sfumato Nudes. Absent from these are props, backdrops, and staged poses. Rather, the artist has chosen to let the bodies themselves reveal the subjects' characters. Krause has chosen to represent a broad view of ages and body types within the series and does so with neither prurience nor shame, showing respect and compassion for the humanity of the people he portrays. His models honor the artist, and thereby his audience, with a degree of laid-back trust and generous willingness to share themselves that is a beautiful thing to behold. Particularly fascinating for the perspective they offer are a pair of photographs of a woman, both lovely, one taken while she is near term in her pregnancy, contented and glowing with life. I also found a portrait of an older man undergoing treatment for cancer to be especially engaging emotionally. The fear that comes with not knowing what that might look like is stripped bare to reveal an actuality that is both less and more frightening. With the revelation of the humanity of this dignified, wise-looking, yet undefensive person comes a degree of sympathy that hurts to feel. You look at him, and you see what it is to be truly brave. Likewise, Sean Perry's landscapes in his series titled Transitory are pared down to an unsentimental and yet spiritual essence. Radio towers, satellite dishes, and smokestacks – works of engineers, not artists, but magicians all the same – are juxtaposed against their ambient atmosphere to reveal their totemic nature. Titles such as Future/Past and Dharmachakra guide the viewer toward this interpretation. Subtle references are made to the depictions of spiritual concepts that make up such a significant part of Asian art history. Vortex in particular struck me as a mandala form, while the light and dark areas of Reciprocity and Night Into Day seem to refer to the subtle balance between yin and yang. Nowhere seen is ornament or sentiment; everywhere seen is highly functional design. Yet when we step back from function, an essential mystery asserts itself. As our scientists come to understand the inner workings of life itself, it comforts me to be reminded that to the respectful and spiritually minded eye, no further magic is required than the profound mystery of truth. |
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 Tumbleweed 2 by Bale Creek Allen |
'Tiretreads' keeps rolling along in unexpected way By Erin Keever One of the hallmarks of an artist is the ability to create extraordinary versions of ordinary things. Bale Creek Allen does this in his latest exhibition, "Tumbleweeds and Tiretreads." Tiretreads, useless after a blowout, are familiar and foreboding refuse found alongside the road. Allen collects and preserves these unwanted scraps by casting them in bronze and sometimes dipping them in 24-karat gold. His choice of medium transforms everyday ephemera into modern day treasures that recall the splendors of antiquity. Smaller treads evoke precious objects found in Egyptian tombs, while larger treads mounted on walls, become icons, either crosses or architectural remnants. Tumbleweeds are treated in similar fashion, cast in bronze, but finished with jewellike patinas. Gilded in a seafoam palette of blues, greens and grays, the whirling masses of delicate branches move between the worlds of strangely shimmering barren mesas and unknown undersea reef systems. A series of photographs with stylistically and thematic affinities to Allen's other work rounds out this exhibition. Images such as nostalgic signs, or a blue plastic bag caught in barbed wire appear to be moments captured somewhere along Texas highways. Compositionally well-arranged, printed in both black and white and eye-popping color; the photos provide a strong complement to the sculptural work. Allen is known for his exquisite craftsmanship (nearly every work is immaculate), but gone are his clever titles and ironic inscriptions on artworks, which when left untempered have seemed over-the-top. In their place emerges an ostensibly more mature approach, a new formalism if you will, causing his tumbleweeds and tire treads to truly shine. |
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