Batatas-Pedras Wilfredo Prieto
Past exhibition
Overview
We can gather that the set of works presented by Wilfredo Prieto in his first exhibition at the Mendes Wood DM gallery establishes itself at the cornerstones of duality. The distinct objects that echo in chain, at times intermittent and often peremptory, transfer to the spectator a silence that instigates and unsettles through its outcry. They are particles originating from a work of intense observation on the part of the artist who subverts the senses by presenting a handful of objects that lead us ad infinitum to the valiant unconditional act of the specular eternal. He subtly provides clues that enable us to unveil the distinct variations that resonate from the setbacks of contemporary communication. The character of the immediate that's necessary when looking at one thing or another presented in the exhibition space assumes and takes shape in small projects rife with thought that inspires us and moves us to confront that which suddenly appears ephemeral but which, on another scale, offers us all the tools to in some way solidify them in our retina in a lasting manner.
If for Freud the essence of humor is the sparing of affection, we can use this as the starting point for confronting an artist who cannot be reduced to the simple longings of our comprehension and who, to a certain extent, provokes us in the infinite zones where his gaze circulates upon objects. Occasionally this path reflects the acid and unfailing taste of the witticism which, never by mistake, remains quite dear to his narrative. Todavia Prieto is assertive in patiently leading us in a way that makes us oscillate between his apolitical manner of conceptualizing the debate – a way that is also invariably of use to us when in the necessary and ordinary act of taking of a position in recognizing a work of art – not sparing us any of the hypotheses suggested by it.
There is a metaphysical confrontation in Batatas-Pedras that is extended right at the room's entrance. There, on the ground, the insidious terrain where the clash takes place which ends up modulating the passerby's path through the entire exhibition, the artist intermediates so that we step cautiously on this ground laden with sinuous inquiries. Traversing this field the spectator comes across the Truck head, Pig head and all the sumptuousness of this installation which immediately contrasts with the minimalism of the other works on display. This Manichaeism – so singular in the artist's body of work – here leads us to understanding the various chimeras of this utopian mirror of re-readings of and suggestions concerning the human condition and its fragile web of convictions. In Billetes perdidos (Ángulo muerto / Dead Angle) from 2006, the enchantment of Prieto's verve suggests that we reflect on the infinite longing in the inexorable variants of the eternal search that insinuates itself, while, at the same time, distancing itself a bit more from the fortune of the real and the palpable.
Wilfredo Prieto's such plural language and repertoire make us look cautiously to the angles forgotten by the vicious exercise of our gaze. The practice of confrontation between the disposable and the urgent – which has been employed on countless occasions to suppress more profound thinking currently reflected by our peers in society – unfolds here in a narrative that instigates the investigation of the countless meanings in the linguistic field. The complex web of contradictions so present in the world of meanings exposed by Prieto is subtly laid upon the canons of minimalism. Yet, when turning our gaze with greater caution to this accumulation of objects, we perceive that this vein flows beyond the profound criticism of our fondness for an excessive attachment to the material, also extending to the prompt distraction to which we are submitted from the perception of what is necessary and the mechanisms that explore the varied meanings of our gaze. We can ultimately return our gaze to a certain attention to the apolitical thought that blooms from the artist's inquiries and also to the systematic study of the human condition which has always suggested an irrefutable production that is necessary for the monochord of our time.
If for Freud the essence of humor is the sparing of affection, we can use this as the starting point for confronting an artist who cannot be reduced to the simple longings of our comprehension and who, to a certain extent, provokes us in the infinite zones where his gaze circulates upon objects. Occasionally this path reflects the acid and unfailing taste of the witticism which, never by mistake, remains quite dear to his narrative. Todavia Prieto is assertive in patiently leading us in a way that makes us oscillate between his apolitical manner of conceptualizing the debate – a way that is also invariably of use to us when in the necessary and ordinary act of taking of a position in recognizing a work of art – not sparing us any of the hypotheses suggested by it.
There is a metaphysical confrontation in Batatas-Pedras that is extended right at the room's entrance. There, on the ground, the insidious terrain where the clash takes place which ends up modulating the passerby's path through the entire exhibition, the artist intermediates so that we step cautiously on this ground laden with sinuous inquiries. Traversing this field the spectator comes across the Truck head, Pig head and all the sumptuousness of this installation which immediately contrasts with the minimalism of the other works on display. This Manichaeism – so singular in the artist's body of work – here leads us to understanding the various chimeras of this utopian mirror of re-readings of and suggestions concerning the human condition and its fragile web of convictions. In Billetes perdidos (Ángulo muerto / Dead Angle) from 2006, the enchantment of Prieto's verve suggests that we reflect on the infinite longing in the inexorable variants of the eternal search that insinuates itself, while, at the same time, distancing itself a bit more from the fortune of the real and the palpable.
Wilfredo Prieto's such plural language and repertoire make us look cautiously to the angles forgotten by the vicious exercise of our gaze. The practice of confrontation between the disposable and the urgent – which has been employed on countless occasions to suppress more profound thinking currently reflected by our peers in society – unfolds here in a narrative that instigates the investigation of the countless meanings in the linguistic field. The complex web of contradictions so present in the world of meanings exposed by Prieto is subtly laid upon the canons of minimalism. Yet, when turning our gaze with greater caution to this accumulation of objects, we perceive that this vein flows beyond the profound criticism of our fondness for an excessive attachment to the material, also extending to the prompt distraction to which we are submitted from the perception of what is necessary and the mechanisms that explore the varied meanings of our gaze. We can ultimately return our gaze to a certain attention to the apolitical thought that blooms from the artist's inquiries and also to the systematic study of the human condition which has always suggested an irrefutable production that is necessary for the monochord of our time.
Works
Installation Views
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