The human figure is one of those timeless topics that have been consistently explored throughout art history. "Navigating Space" is a group show that compiles the work of four different artists whose expressions, although all quite different, work around the exploration of this theme. The way they treat space, the relationship between the subjects and the surface or the surroundings they find themselves in, are also important aspects of these artists' work.
In the cases of Pablo Arrázola and Armando Castro, the subjects exist within a limited, though significant amount of space. They are scattered along the plane in a way that allows them to maintain their importance while also giving some to the material on which they are materialized. Arrázola's figures interact in a limited yet infinite space. They want to transcend from that space but can't. Castro intervenes his materials to make sense of the vacuous space that surrounds his figures. They are drawn with the utmost detail on raw cardboard and interact with these interventions done by the artist. Materials such as paper and cardboard are employed with the purpose of highlighting their particular traits, thus becoming protagonists in the works.
In Carlos Alarcón's case, his depiction of the human figure is much more intimate, for he recurs to portraiture as his method of expression. His detailed drawings of strangers up close belong to the series "Mute Anguishes," and embody the power of portraiture, and how potently it can capture emotion. These portraits are also surrounded by emptiness, an emptiness that helps the viewer focus exclusively on the subject, and also one that is recurring in the works of other artists included in this exhibition.
Meanwhile, Mario Arroyave's figures unfold as a pattern. There is a certain rhythm within his timeless spaces that makes them dynamic and almost surreal. Although Arroyave works a digital medium, and therefore less organic than Castro's, Arrázola's and Alarcón's, his interest in the human figure, and in its behavior within a certain context remains potent.
The show will consist of approximately 15 works and will be part of the ARTBO Weekend Agenda, which will open 8 July and will be on view through the 30th of the same month of the year 2020.
