TREAD LIGHTLY

Marcos Acosta celebrates the joy of natural landscapes while recording our carbon footprint at Park House.

Perhaps there is no better way to articulate Earth Day and our need to address climate change than through art. Marcos Acosta’s representational works combine abstractions to illuminate humanity’s intersection with the natural world. Evolved out of his upbringing near the Sierras de Córdoba, Acosta’s large-scale paintings are noted for dramatic abstractions bifurcating breathtaking landscapes. The artist, renowned across South America while new to US audiences, is showing with Hexton Gallery at Park House during Dallas Arts Month. This is the second exhibition with Hexton—an Aspen gallery known for modern and contemporary artists—this year at the private club in Highland Park Village. “Aspen has a special place in the hearts of the Park House owners and many of our members. Aspen, like Dallas, has a very vibrant arts scene and we love when we can bring a little piece of Aspen to Dallas for engaging exhibitions and conversations. We are thrilled to partner with a great friend to many, Bob Chase and his Aspen gallery space, Hexton,” says Deborah Scott, a Park House founder.

Growing up in the rough terrain of central Argentina, the artist has grown accustomed to canyons, jagged peaks, and rounded topography. During holidays the area brims with tourism. His bright, abstract geometries announce human activity that creates tension, though he acknowledges we are part of nature ourselves. Linear shapes seem to indicate a footpath, signifying ascension and descension in these remote places. Our smallness within his conjured environments provides a heightened awareness of self.

Interconnected with spirituality and the Universe, the abstraction does not connote desperate circumstances but instead it may be cautionary. Tread lightly through these worlds, hints Acosta, but enjoy the beauty, fresh air, and renewed sense of self that such profound landscapes can offer. The show, titled Right Place, reflects the artists belief that “no place and every place encompasses a common essence that is, at its core, simply light.” Park House members and their guests may see Right Place opening on Apr. 20 and continuing through September.–P

From top left: Marcos Acosta, Right Place, 2022, oil on canvas, 59 x 80 in.; Marcos Acosta, After the Storm III, 2022, oil on canvas, 59 x 80 in.; Marcos Acosta, Blue Night III, 2022, 51.25 x 37.25 in. All courtesy of the artist and Hexton Gallery.