Ricardo Mazal | Ba Zasa

RICARDo BA ZASA (RetuRn) MAZAL

S un DARAM tAG o R e ne W Yo RK

o C to B e R 12 – noV e MB e R 11, 2023

BA ZASA (RetuRn)

We are pleased to present new paintings by Ricardo Mazal (b. 1950) known for his expansive bodies of work exploring life, death, transformation and regeneration. Although Mazal is often inspired by his travels to spiritual sites across the globe, his latest series navigates more personal territory. Centered on ideas of movement and migration, these vibrant paintings stem from the artist’s return to Mexico City, his birthplace, where he recently established a studio after living and working in the United States for more than thirty years.

Mazal, whose work has been the subject of five major museum retrospectives in Mexico, has been a noted presence in the country’s contemporary art scene since the 1990s. Over the course of his career, his work has been informed by his farflung explorations of spiritual rituals around the world. He has circumambulated Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash, meditated on rituals surrounding death in the Peace Forest cemetery of Odenwald, Germany, and studied the billowing prayer flags of Bhutan. With this newest body of work, the artist is exploring terrain closer to home, both metaphorically and physically, delving into local traditions of Mexico.

Mazal was inspired to begin this series after encountering a large flock of migrating birds. The dramatic scene of thousands

of wings silhouetted against a clear sky resonated with him as he himself was migrating southward. He began researching the epic journey that millions of birds embark upon annually. Soon he started making abstract sketches based on images of migrating birds. Working with oils on monumental canvases, he painted spontaneous white brushstrokes flecked across rich expanses of color.

In stark contrast to the constrained compositions of works he created during the Covid lockdown, these new oil paintings are filled with lightness, freedom and possibility. Mazal begins by creating a luminous surface composed of bands of vibrant colors such as deep blue or crimson, which he applies by pulling foamrubber blades across the linen canvas. He then adds a flurry of impasto white brushstrokes onto the colored surface.

Mazal, who underwent medical treatment in the midst of working on this series, found that although his body was forced to pause, his brain remained active. He realized that his fascination with avian migration was about more than just a physical phenomenon. He began to reflect on the idea of flight and finding freedom in the mind despite physical circumstances. While he previously drew inspiration from holy and spiritual sites where people flock, these new works pay homage to a quiet pilgrimage within.

Left: Ba Zasa White 1 (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 78 inches/182.9 x 198.1 cm

Ricardo Mazal’s studio, Santa Fe, NM, 2023

Ba Zasa White 6, 2023, oil on linen, 26 x 27 inches/66 x 68.6 cm

Ba Zasa Blue Violet 3, 2023, oil on linen, 37 x 40 inches/94 x 101.6 cm

Ricardo Mazal’s studio, Santa Fe, NM, 2023

Ba Zasa Red Lake 2, 2023, oil on linen, 37 x 50 inches/94 x 127 cm

Ba Zasa Paynes Grey 2, 2023, oil on linen, 37 x 50 inches/94 x 127 cm

Ba Zasa Grey 1, 2023, oil on linen, 37 x 50 inches/94 x 127 cm

Ba Zasa Green 2, 2023, oil on linen, 37 x 50 inches/94 x 127 cm

Ricardo Mazal’s studio, Santa Fe, NM, 2023

Ba Zasa Blue Violet 2, 2023, oil on linen, 55 x 43 inches/139.7 x 109.2 cm

Migration Red Lake 1, 2023, oil on linen, 55 x 43 inches/139.7 x 109.2 cm

Ba Zasa White 4, 2023, oil on linen, 43 x 55 inches/109.2 x 139.7 cm

Ba Zasa Raw 1, 2023, oil on linen, 43 x 55 inches/109.2 x 139.7 cm

Migration Grey SF 2, 2023, oil on linen, 55 x 43 inches/139.7 x 109.2 cm

Ba Zasa PF 1, 2023, oil on linen, 66 x 92 inches/167.6 x 233.7 cm

Ba Zasa White 5, 2023, oil on linen, 55 x 70 inches/139.7 x 177.8 cm

Migration White SF 1, 2023, oil on linen, 55 x 43 inches/139.7 x 109.2 cm

Ricardo Mazal’s studio, Santa Fe, NM, 2023

Ba Zasa White 1, 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 78 inches/182.9 x 198.1 cm

Ba Zasa White 2, 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 78 inches/182.9 x 198.1 cm

Ba Zasa Blue Violet 1, 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 110 inches/182.9 x 279.4 cm

Ba Zasa Full Circle, 2023, oil on linen, 90 x 140 inches/228.6 x 355.6 cm

SILK

In dialogue with work focussing on movement and migration is a second body of smaller-scale acrylic paintings on handmade silk inspired by an encounter with a family of silk producers in a remote mountain village in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Mazal was surprised to discover fragments of dyed silk that looked almost identical to some of his paintings and soon decided to experiment with silk as a support.

Mazal visited the village of San Pedro Cajonos, and immersed himself in the process of raising silkworms, spinning and weaving the silk, then finally coloring the fabric using dyes made of natural materials including flowers, tree bark and indigo. “For 400 years this village has been creating silk. I wanted to enter their world and understand it in depth,” says Mazal, who titled the exhibition using the Zapotec language of the region.

By collaborating with the artisans, he sought to celebrate the culture and traditions of the Sierra Norte region, which are fading as many of the craftspeople have migrated to the U.S. Similar to his other series of paintings, he added thick textured white brushstrokes onto the surface of the silk. What resulted is a series of intimate silk paintings infused with a sense of dynamism and movement.

Santuario del Gusano de Seda / Sanctuary of the Silk Worm, Oaxaca, Mexico

Zapotecan master Moises Martinez collaborating with Ricardo Mazal on silk production and dyeing, Oaxaca, Mexico

Chag (Brown), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Yaba (Blue), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gaa 1 (Green 1), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gashe 2 (Yellow 2), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gaa-Biosa (Green-Purple), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

De (Grey), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Xna (Red), 2023, acrylic on natural and hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gashe 1 (Yellow 1), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gasj (Black), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Tee 1 (Beige 1), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Gaa 2 (Green 2), 2023, acrylic on natural hand-dyed silk mounted on aluminum panel, 18 x 19 inches/45.7 x 48.3 cm

Don’t Move Gold P3, 2023, mixed media, 18.25 x 15 inches/46.4 x 38.1 cm

Don’t Move Blue V. P1, 2023, mixed media, 18.25 x 15 inches/46.4 x 38.1 cm

Don’t Move Grey P3, 2023, mixed media, 18.25 x 15 inches/46.4 x 38.1 cm

Don’t Move Red P1, 2023, mixed media, 18.25 x 15 inches/46.4 x 38.1 cm

Ricardo Mazal’s studio, Santa Fe, NM, 2023

RICARDo MAZAL

Ricardo Mazal is perhaps best known for his near decade-long investigations into the sacred burial rituals of diverse cultures, from the Mayan Tomb of the Red Queen in Palenque, Mexico, to the Buddhist prayer flags of Bhutan, to the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. These studies yielded a succession of large, multidisciplinary bodies of work reflective of the artist’s observations. However, recent bodies of work are imbued with a more personal narrative, as Mazal increasingly transitions from witness to author.

Ricardo Mazal has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. Since 2000, he has had five museum retrospectives: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (2000); Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City (2006); Museo de Arte, Querétaro, Mexico (2009); Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez, Zacatecas, Mexico (2010); and the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe (2018). His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2002 and 2004); Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City (2004–2005); Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (2006); Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Mexico (2006); the Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, DC (2008); the Centro Cultural Estación Indianilla, Mexico City (2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020); and the Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City. His work was also showcased in group exhibitions at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (2016); and Frontiers Reimagined at the 56th Venice Biennale (2015).

Mazal’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; Fondation Maeght, Paris; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez, Zacatecas, Mexico; Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Mexico; Cirque du Soleil, Montreal; The Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai; and Deutsche Bank, New York and Germany.

Ricardo Mazal lives and works in Mexico City and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

SunDARAM tAGoRe GALLeRIeS

The gallery has been representing established and emerging artists from around the world since 2000, showing work that is aesthetically and intellectually rigorous, infused with humanism and art historically significant. The gallery specializes in paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations with a strong emphasis on materiality. Our artists cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. We show this work alongside important work by underrepresented women from the New York School. The gallery also has a robust photography program that includes some of the world’s most noted photographers.

neW YoRK

542 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 • tel 212 677 4520 gallery@sundaramtagore.com

SInGAPoRe

5 Lock Road 01-05, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933 • tel 65 6694 3378 singapore@sundaramtagore.com

LonDon

4 Cromwell Place, London, SW7 2JE london@sundaramtagore.com

President and Curator: Sundaram Tagore

Senior Director, New York: Susan McCaffrey

Director, Singapore: Melanie Taylor

Director, New York: Kathryn McSweeney

Senior Registrar: Julia Occhiogrosso

Designer: Russell Whitehead

Editorial support: Kieran Doherty

WWW.S un DARAM tAG o R e .C o M

Text © 2023 Sundaram Tagore Gallery

Images © 2023 Ricardo Mazal

ISBN: 979-8-9882323-0-8

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this catalogue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover, Ba Zasa White 2 (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 78 inches/182.9 x 198.1 cm

Back cover, Ba Zasa White 1 (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 72 x 78 inches/182.9 x 198.1 cm