Biography
Born in Rosario, 1958. He had his first individual exhibition of drawings and paintings in 1982. In 1990 he began his series "Stretchers", first presented in the city of Rosario, the following year in Buenos Aires and later in France, United States and Mexico. During 1991 and 1992 attended a workshop in Buenos Aires held by Guillermo Kuitca and coordinated/sponsored by Fundación Antorchas. Performed several solo showings in Buenos Aires and abroad: at the OMR Gallery in Mexico in 1998; Sicardi Gallery in Houston in 1999, Galeria Ramis Barquet, New York in 2000 and the Animal Gallery in Santiago, Chile in 2006, among others. He took part of the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and the Havana Biennale the same year. Also exhibited at the 1st and 2nd Mercosur Biennial of Porto Alegre, the 1st and 2nd International Biennial of Buenos Aires and in 2002 at Pont-Cabeça, the first Biennial of Fortaleza, Brazil.
He has obtained among other distinctions, the 2nd Prize Braque 1992, the Scholarship for artistic creation of the Antorchas Foundation 1994, the First Prize of the Winners of the New World Foundation 1994, First Prize in Austria 1996 and the 2nd Prize Acquisition Colección Costantini Awards 1997. Was considered the Young Artist of the Year 1995 by the Argentine Association of Art Critics. He earned the Platinum Konex given by the Konex Foundation in 2002.
Vision of art
1. Choose a work that represents you, describe it in relation to its format and materiality, its relation with time and space, its style and theme; detail its production process.
"3421" is a painting made in 2001, done in acrylic on canvas which measures 152 x 164 cms, and it’s a part of a series called “Regrets”. Here, on a yellow background, and almost covering the entire surface, appears a dental mold, such as those made by dentists in the dental plaster. Gums are painted with a flesh tone that creates a certain ambiguity on the nature of the object. The size of the figure, the gritted teeth, the marks and damaged plaster cast bring the dramatic nature of the work. This is accentuated with abrasions, scratches and stains that make up the texture of the painting. These marks are a product of the process of the work, which consists of three stages. The first one is the fully construction of the image followed by another of removal and erasing, destroying what was previously painted. Finally, the image is reconstructed, but many traces of the process remain visible ones, referring to what is the common theme of my work: the relationship between painting, time and memory. The painting as a process that does not stop when the work is exhibited, but continues with the deterioration, the restorations, the changes of light, etc. Also the painting as a record, a physical imprint of a moment. This is why the object is represented frontally, coldly, accentuating its almost scientific record.
2. In general terms, how would you suggest to approach your work?
I am interested in my work being perceived first physically and emotionally, then conceptually. I often say that what interested me the most about my paintings is that that does not appear on the photographs that reproduce them. By that I mean that there are issues related to the size and proportions, the quality of the color, the texture and porosity, which are an essential part of the meaning of the work.
3. In reference to your work and your position in the national and international art fields, what tradition do you recognize yourself in? Who are your contemporary referents? What artists of previous generations are of interest to you?
I consider myself as part of the painting tradition, from the primitive Flemish or the Italians up to date. Contemporary references could be Luc Tuymans, Yositomo Nara, Manuel Ocampo, Guillermo Kuitca, Tulio of Sagastizábal. My references from previous generations are countless, from Dierick Bouts and Gerard David, to Francis Bacon, Edward Rusch, Andy Warhol, Philip Guston and Brice Marden, from Monet and Max Beckmann and Augusto Rosario Schiavoni. The younger Argetngeneration, I am interested in Argentinean artists including Nahuel Vecino and Flavia Da Rhine.
4. Choose works or exhibitions from the last ten or fifteen years which in your opinion were very significant and explain why
Berni’s retrospective at the MNBA, allowing me to appreciate his work and all its power, the same about the exhibition of the sending of Berni to the Venice Biennale made at the Cronopios room of the Centro Cultural Recoleta. Kuitca at the Malba, presented in the country, if not his best works, at least a significant insight into the production of one of the best Argentine painters. Any of Tulio Sagastizábal’s exhibitions, which are always a vital lesson of painting. "A Morir" by Miguel Angel Rios at Ruth Benzacar by the impressive jump that it meant in his production as an artists and because it gives hope of something interesting being achieved in the field of video art.
5. What tendencies or groupings from common elements do you see in argentine art of the last ten or fifteen years?
I’m not interested on perceiving “gatherings” or trends.
