|
The First Art Newspaper on the Net |
|
Established in 1996 |
|
Friday, December 13, 2024 |
|
Hauser & Wirth presents "Angel Otero. That First Rain in May" |
|
|
Installation view, Angel Otero. That First Rain in May, Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood 29 May 24 August 2024 © Angel Otero. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Paul Salveson.
|
LOS ANGELES, CA.- Magical realism and abstraction converge in the work of artist Angel Otero, whose first Los Angeles exhibition with Hauser & Wirth is on view at the gallerys West Hollywood location. Oteros personal recollections of his upbringing in Puerto Rico are woven throughout a group of new paintings and sculptures in which technical innovation becomes the means for conveying memory through materiality. In surreal and fragmentary scenes, Otero mines his own history to make sense of the current moment, animating everyday objects and environments that are loosely based on the domestic spaces of his youth.
The exhibitions title draws from a popular saying in Spanish, La Primera Lluvia de Mayo, that stirred Oteros imagination in childhood. Local lore held that the first rain in May brings luck to those drenched by it; children and adults alike bathed in these inaugural downpours, a ritual in which natural forces conjured seemingly magical ones. The presence of water pervades Oteros work, symbolic of the artists psychological and material explorations: self-reflection and a synthesis of ideas flow through his paintings like currents that the viewer can feel. Oteros signature mode of visual storytelling is exemplified in such vibrant paintings as River Mouth (2024), where a red chair, bucket of water and bathtub embark on a voyage down a choppy stream. A jalousie window shutter (horizontally slatted) floats against an indistinct background, hovering like a low-lying sun over the scene.
Oteros labor-intensive process of oil painting allows for an active exchange with the medium, inviting chance into his practice. He begins each new work by painting the foreground scene on plexiglass first and then working backward in layers, so the background is painted last. Building in a layer of fabric to hold the entire structure together, he then scrapes off the resulting paint skin and fixes it onto canvas. Afterward, Otero continues to add to the surface, collaging images of items like window shutters, folded paper airplanes and boats from a repository of previously made works to create an entirely new, multilayered composition. These resulting works possess a theatrical quality, with quotidian objects assuming the role of protagonists in elaborate painted settings.
The recurring objects in Oteros art serve as psychological anchors for his forays into the realm of the ambiguous and magical. Often proxies for the people who raised him, they replace human figures while nevertheless suggesting the reverberating effects of human experience: memories. Through his skilled merging of fragments from different sources, Otero effectively emulates the ways in which our recollections of the past, imprecise and frequently distorted, converge to shape our present.
The exhibition at Hauser & Wirth West Hollywood also marks Oteros return to sculpture. In Rayuela (Hopscotch) (2024), he combines the disparate elements of ceramics and welded metal, directly referencing the decorative wrought iron gates from his childhood home in Puerto Rico. Like the jalousie window shutters that recur in his work, these permanent yet permeable fixtures protect the home while allowing the elements to flow freely. Wind, air, light, sounds and smells travel through them, creating an ever-changing dynamic between interior and exterior. Complementing this sculptures ornate iron geometry is a glazed and painted hopscotch grid. Together, these components braid concepts of safety, beauty and play into the work. Rayuela (Hopscotch) is the title of a novel by Argentine writer Julio Cortazar that has served as a key source of inspiration for Otero, who finds deep kinship in Cortazars experimental storytelling, formal innovations, and playful pursuit of lifes relentless and beautiful mysteries.
Angel Otero was born in 1981 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, where he resided until moving in 2004 to obtain his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He currently splits his time between New York and Puerto Rico. Otero was the subject of major solo exhibitions in 2017 at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY, and in 2016 at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. In 2009, Otero was included in the exhibition Constellations at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, shortly after receiving his MFA. Oteros work is in numerous public and private collections including The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx NY; DePaul Art Museum, Chicago IL; Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City MO; Long Museum, Shanghai, China; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago IL; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh NC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York NY; Speed Art Museum, Louisville KY; and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA.
|
|
Today's News
June 21, 2024
Albion Vu's Exhibition at ARTNET with a private art dealer Donna Leatherman: A Bold Exploration of Color and Form
Blek le Rat unveils a major solo exhibition featuring new paintings and prints at Woodbury House in Mayfair
Barbara Gladstone, an art dealer with a personal touch and global reach, dies at 89
Art Institute of Chicago announces "Ellsworth Kelly: Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance"
Stonehenge is sprayed with orange powder in climate protest
Phoenix Art Museum receives major gift to expand dedicated fashion galleries
Donald Sutherland, shape-shifting movie star, dies at 88
Hauser & Wirth presents "Angel Otero. That First Rain in May"
Land art in Malibu gets a second chance
National Portrait Gallery opens first historical exhibition since reopening
FAMM, the first private museum in Europe dedicated to female artists, opens its doors in Mougins
Gaza's historic heart, now in ruins
The Schirn presents two new works by Selma Selman in a major solo exhibition
Hiền Hoàng wins Foam Paul Huf Award 2024
'Cats' returns, ditching the junkyard for queer ballroom
Centro Botín presents "Partitura" a solo exhibition dedicated to artist Silvia Bächli
The careful crafting of Austin Butler
After 40 years of dance, what happens to a dream fulfilled?
Exposing the designer behind the curtain
How Cage the Elephant's frontman nearly lost it all
Berlinische Galerie presents works by the recipient of the Förderpreis 2024: Hannah Höch
"Hannah Höch: Montierte Welten" opens at the Lower Belvedere
The Baltimore Museum of Art appoints new leaders for External Affairs and Education
The Brooklyn Academy of Music announces its next wave, and next steps
Michael Mikulec Discusses Creative Mastery and Philanthropy: From ESPN to Independent Art
How to get slim with a healthy routine l Lifestyle Tips
Parktown Residences: Urban Luxury Meets Community Living
The Benefits of Using YouTube to MP3 Converters for Offline Listening
Elevate Your Brand with Stunning Corporate Headshots NYC
Explore 6 Saudi Arabia UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Revolutionizing Digital Advertising: The Rise of AdTech Services
AI Development Company: Pioneering the Future of Technology
|
|
|
|
|
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, . |
|
|
|
Royalville Communications, Inc produces:
|
|
|
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
|
|