NEW YORK, NY.- Ruiz-Healy Art is presenting Between Light and Shadow, a group exhibition of works by Carlos Amorales, Modesto Bernardo, Johanna Calle, Jean Charlot, Felipe Ehrenberg, Demian Flores, Azteca de Gyvés, Kati Horna, Graciela Iturbide, Dr. Lakra, Juan de Dios Mora, Liliana Porter, Audrey Rodríguez, and Carlos Rosales-Silva on view from February 6th to March 14th, 2025, at the New York City gallery.
Historically, black and white have been used to explore the interaction of opposites - illumination and obscurity, presence and absence - mirroring broad philosophical and cultural inquiries. Between Light and Shadow encourages looking behind the curtain of color through various mediums - including photography, painting, mixed media, and printmaking, focusing on the interplay of light & shadow, texture, and composition.
Monochromatic photography, dating back to the 19th century, allows artists such as Graciela Iturbide and Kati Horna to explore gender identity and the human form through a surrealist lens. Graciela Iturbide’s photograph Magnolia I Juchitán, México, spotlights Magnolia, who resides in an Oaxacan community that widely accepts the existence of three genders. Magnolia, a Muxe who does not identify as male or female, was photographed by Iturbide in an array of wardrobes and makeup styles, unraveling the constructed idea of gender. Horna’s work, Leonora, from the series Oda a la necrofilia (Ode to necrophilia), blends the intimate with the uncanny, inspired by the surrealist circles Horna was a part of, and their fascination with taboo subjects and the unconscious.
For artists Azteca de Gyvés and Carlos Rosales-Silva, abstracting culturally significant objects through painting and mixed media connects Mexican Indigenous culture and the historical canon of Western art. De Gyvés geometrically abstracts a Huipil, a traditional garment deeply rooted in Indigenous cultures in Mexico, pulling from her Zapotec heritage, transforming it into a universal language, creating a dialogue between past and present. Rosales-Silva’s work Border Exchange Studies (Black & White) employs ideas from Josef Albers, who argues that color has no absolutes. Taking the concept of multiplicity in stride, Rosales-Silva mimics the Southern landscape of his hometown of El Paso, Texas, through textures and patterns crafted by flashe and sand.
Between Light and Shadow showcases artists' use of monochromatic grayscale to depict natural landscapes and features. Johanna Calle pushes the traditional boundaries of drawing; in Sin Título (Arañas) Antiquus Editores, Bogotá, Colombia, a spiderweb is made up entirely of words, expressing ecological concerns. Juan de Dios Mora’s surrealist linocut Asi Como Voy, Asi Llego, blends iconographic elements with an urban landscape, expressing the clashing of cultures he experienced growing up in the US/Mexico border town of Laredo, Texas.
Artists in the exhibition use printing and drawing techniques, emphasizing the power of contrast and form, to bring narratives of identity to life through a cast of characters. Liliana Porter uses photogravure, depicting a company of inanimate objects, toys, and figurines that she finds in flea markets and antique stores, which have a gaze that the viewer can animate. Drawing from her experiences living in South Texas and New York City, Audrey Rodriguez captures the essence of everyday intimate New York street vendor scenes through dramatically lit still-life compositions, showcasing the connection between food and the people behind it. Mexican artist and tattooist Dr. Lakra hybridizes emblems and myths in his etchings, documenting his fascination with taboos, fetishes, and rituals of different cultures.
The artists in Between Light and Shadow use monochromatic tones to amplify narratives, identities, and natural landscapes, stripping down visual expression to its essential elements. Between Light and Shadow invites viewers to engage with themes of duality and ambiguity, finding and creating meaning beyond color.
