A many-splendored self-portrait of the artist
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, November 23, 2024


A many-splendored self-portrait of the artist
Artist René Treviño in his Baltimore studio, with works from the Celestial Body-ody-ody series (2022-23). Photography by Joseph Hyde, 2023.

by Seph Rodney



CLINTON, NY.- For “Stab of Guilt,” the first, sprawling survey show of René Treviño’s 24-year practice at the Wellin Museum of Art in Clinton, New York, among his other work, the artist has installed 119 paintings, each 18 inches by 18 inches. These are disparate images, some historical, some contemporary, all variations on the circle: heraldry, Aztec symbols, currency, images of the sun and of star patterns, a manhole cover, a disco ball.

This collection hints at how fluidly this Dallas-born, Baltimore-based, Mexican queer artist regards the aesthetic world: He isn’t concerned with rigid hierarchies of being. What he is concerned about is connecting the disparate and layered parts of himself that exist beyond the traditional markers of identity.

Treviño — who has been exhibited at the Arlington Arts Center in Virginia, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut and White Box in New York City — is unique in that he doesn’t treat identity as a series of boxes to check, or a set of ramparts to guard, but instead, as a range of paths to explore.

Another group of paintings, the “Celestial Body-ody-ody” series (2020-23) — named after a song by popular hip-hop musician Megan Thee Stallion — contains images of coral arranged like brain matter adjacent to images of the Earth seen from space. These works, which measure 36 by 36 inches, are a motley combination of the art historical, Mexican cultural history and the everyday curiosities of pedestrian American culture.

In a conversation with the artist, he explained, “My art really is an attempt to kind of squish all of those things together.”

I mistook these paintings for prints at first but found out they are painstakingly hand-painted acrylic on semi-opaque DuraLar archival film. Another theme of the show emerges here: Treviño wants his labor to be recognized as undergirding the art, and he wants its intricacy and splendor to captivate the viewer. Yet the underlying labor required to make the work can be obscured by its grandeur.

At the entrance of the exhibition there is a trio of clothing ensemble pieces the artist has titled “Regalia, Intuition,” 2023; “Regalia, Foresight,” 2023; and “Regalia, Premonition,” 2023. Three mannequins bear robes resembling European coronation capes that are decorated with faux jaguar fur and magpie bits of sequined appliqué, and the robes are topped with spangled masks adorned with wildly patterned headdresses of real pheasant feathers. The trio is presented on a gleaming stage backstopped by a curtain of shimmering gold lamé, blurring the distinction between art, fashion and theater. This pageantry is so sumptuous and the presentation so seamless it feels that these differences among genres of artmaking are arbitrary rather than necessary. The artist, who used to work in theater, has found the best parts of himself within their exuberant collaboration.

Still, I can imagine a viewer being confused by other work in the show, for example the leather pieces that include “Tree of Life Rainbow” (2017), which shows a rainbow emerging from a Mixtec symbol from the Codex Selden. It isn’t clear whether these are meant to be representations of historical documents or revisionist histories — an attempt to queer the canon, that is, to make space within it for hybrid, hyphenate people like Treviño. But for the artist, the differences between the types of work aren’t crucial to constituting identity; they are part of being a human in the contemporary world.

Treviño’s survey includes other bodies of work, such as the “Sunspots by Day, Asteroids by Night,” a series of digital prints and mixed media on bamboo paper, which I found less compelling, and an exquisitely lovely large “Self Portrait” of a rooster with a languorously long black feathered tail attempting to climb onto a yellow sun. The most compelling aspect of “Stab of Guilt” is Treviño’s demonstration that identity is a many-splendored thing and that serious, attentive care to exploring it can look a lot like a party.



‘René Treviño: Stab of Guilt’

Through June 9, the Wellin Museum of Art, on the campus of Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, New York, (315) 859-4396; hamilton.edu/wellin.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

May 23, 2024

Orlando Museum of Art gets a gift with strings and tries to cut them

Exhibition explores 300 years of cross-cultural exchange between the Islamic world and the Dutch and Flemish

New archeological discoveries revealed during conservation in the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello

A painting in the collections of the Nationalmuseum recently attributed to the famous artist Carel Fabritius

Victorian photographs that helped to preserve some of London's most historic buildings

Inside Reese Witherspoon's literary empire

David Redden, who brought ingenuity to the auction block, dies at 75

Elvis' granddaughter sues to block sale of Graceland, charging fraud

Bard Graduate Center appoints Director of Exhibitions and Chief Curator, Julia Siemon

Galerie Eva Presenhuber opens the gallery's sixth solo exhibition with the US-American artist Josh Smith

Now one fast train from Tokyo: Culture, crafts and hot springs

Marriott International is 2024 recipient of the National Building Museum Honor Award

Aliza Nisenbaum joins Regen Projects

Asian art, jewelry, and fine art departments highlight Michaan's Auction's Summer Fine Sale

Exhibition of new photographs by Laura Letinsky opens at Yancey Richardson

A many-splendored self-portrait of the artist

Review: Rocking out, and falling in love, in 'The Lonely Few'

National Gallery of Art acquires four sculptures by 20th- and 21st-century artists

Masterpieces from an important private art collection hit the auction block at Cowley Abbott

American Academy in Rome presents 'A Moment in Time: Xu Bing in Rome'

Asian Cultural Council gala raises nearly $1.6 million

Beaverbrook Art Gallery unveils major expansion of art collection

Exhibition at Karma introduces Los Angeles to Sadamasa Motonaga

Gold medallion presented to a hero of the Windsor Castle fire comes to auction at John Nicholson's

Andi Pei, along with "Wehnu Saï," sweeps international awards, earning widespread acclaim for artistic achievements.

Play Free Online Baccarat - No Download Needed At onlineplayslots.com!

The Cost of Health: Navigating WeGovy Pricing in 2024

The Essentials of Prada Sunglasses and General Sunglasses

Discover the Visionaries Behind Dubai's Skyline

Azzalure: Everything You Need to Know in 2024

Limited Time Only: Unveiling the New Škoda Octavia Limited Edition for Sale

Custom eLearning Solutions: Tailored Education for Modern Needs




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful