R I C A R D O M A Z A L
R I C A R D O M A Z A L B H U TA N A B ST R ACT I O N S
G A L L E R Y M I S S I O N Established in 2000, Sundaram Tagore Gallery is devoted to examining the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-profit events that encourage spiritual, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is instant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, our goal is to provide venues for art that transcend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, our interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines, including poetry, literature, performance art, film and music.
Ricardo Mazal’s studio, 2014, Santa Fe, New Mexico/photograph by Peter Ogilvie
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B H U T A N ABSTRACTIONS Ricardo Mazal, one of Mexico’s most prominent contemporary artists, presents a new series of abstract paintings that evolved from a recent journey to Bhutan. The work draws on previous explorations into themes of life, death, transformation and regeneration. Over the past ten years, Mazal has created a large body of multidisciplinary work, including paintings, photographs and video, inspired by investigation into the sacred burial rites and cultures of the Mayan tomb of the Red Queen in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico; the Peace Forest cemetery in Odenwald, Germany; and Mount Kailash, Tibet’s holiest summit. After mounting his hugely successful solo show Kailash: Black Mountain (Sundaram Tagore Hong Kong and Sundaram Tagore Singapore, 2014), the culmination of this near decade-long burial trilogy, the artist traveled with his family to Bhutan where he was struck by the country’s beauty and spirituality. He realized then that his explorations weren’t over, just moving in a new direction.
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Left: Photograph of a prayer flag by Ricardo Mazal Right: Black Mountain PF 4, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 86.5 inches/180.3 x 219.7 cm
Although Mazal’s previous burial works encompass a range of subject matter and influence—from the cinnabar powder blanketing the entombed queen to the colorful wooden pigment boxes of Tibet’s open-air markets—this new series focuses on a singular subject: the colorful, billowing prayer flags of Bhutan. Hung from bridges, mounted on rooftops and strung from one hilltop to the next, the flags populate the landscape with brilliant colors, each symbolizing a different natural element. They’re often inscribed with mantras or prayers for good fortune and it’s believed that the wind delivers these blessings to the world.
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As with previous series, Mazal began this one with photographs, which he manipulated on the computer to compose digital sketches. He then moved onto stretched linen, delicately layering oil paint using foam-rubber blades. More abstract and distilled than his previous work, some of the paintings, such as 4 Studies, comprise bold swaths of color formed into grid-like compositions. Although carefully compartmentalized, Mazal’s distinctive gestural style charges the canvases with movement and energy. Other paintings, including Bhutan Abstraction G1 and Bhutan PF 1, reference
elements from his earlier series, such as the snow-capped peak of the mountain Kailash and the sacred prayer flags of Tibet. Mazal often deconstructs and reconfigures details from previous paintings in a regenerative and cyclical process that closely parallels the themes he explores. Ricardo Mazal was born in Mexico City in 1950. He has exhibited extensively in galleries and museums throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe, including the Museo Estación Indianilla, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey, Mexico; Museo Nacional de Anthropologia, Mexico City; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and the Americas Society, New York. In 2006, a retrospective of his work was held at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City and in 2009/10, in the Museo de Arte de Queretaro and the Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguerez in Zacatecas, Mexico. Mazal’s work is included in the collections of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguerez, Zacatecas, Mexico; Maeght Foundation, Paris; Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Mexico; Cirque du Soleil, Montreal; the Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai; and Deutsche Bank, New York and Germany.
Photograph of prayer flags by Ricardo Mazal
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Septiembre 25.14, 2014, oil on linen, 78 x 81 inches/198 x 206 cm
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Bhutan Abstraction G1, 2014, oil on linen, 70 x 100 inches/178 x 254 cm
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Bhutan Abstraction G3, 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 42 inches/102 x 107 cm 14
Bhutan Abstraction G4, 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 42 inches/102 x 107 cm 15
Bhutan Abstraction G2, 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 42 inches/102 x 107 cm
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Bhutan Abstraction with Red 1, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm
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Bhutan Abstraction with Gray-Green 1, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm 20
Bhutan Abstraction with Yellow 1, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm 21
Bhutan Abstraction with Green 1, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm
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Ricardo Mazal’s studio, 2014, Santa Fe, New Mexico/photograph by Peter Ogilvie
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Bhutan PF 1, 2014, oil on linen, 77 x 81 inches/196 x 206 cm
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Bhutan PF 3, 2014, oil on linen, 78 x 120 inches/198 x 305 cm
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Bhutan PF 5, 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 42 inches/102 x 107 cm 30
Bhutan PF 4, 2014, oil on linen, 40 x 42 inches/102 x 107 cm 31
Ricardo Mazal’s studio, 2014, Santa Fe, New Mexico/photograph by Peter Ogilvie
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Composition in Green 14, 2014, oil on linen, 78 x 120 inches/198 x 305 cm
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Composition in Green 10, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm
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Composition in Green 11, 2014, oil on linen, 71 x 73 inches/180 x 185 cm
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Left: Study with Yellow 1, 2014, oil on linen, 20 x 24 inches/51 x 61 cm Right: Study with Red 1, 2014, oil on linen, 20 x 24 inches/51 x 61 cm 40
Left: Study with Green 1, 2014, oil on linen, 20 x 24 inches/51 x 61 cm Right: Study with Gray-Green 1, 2014, oil on linen, 20 x 24 inches/51 x 61 cm 41
CURRICULUM VITAE Born in Mexico, 1950 Based in Barcelona, Spain, 1985-1991 Currently lives and works in New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2015 Bhutan Abstractions, Museo Estación Indianilla, Mexico City 2014 Bhutan Abstractions, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Kailash: Black Mountain, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore Kailash: Black Mountain, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong 2013 New Paintings, Odon Wagner Gallery, Toronto, Canada The Kora Dialogues, Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco 2012 Kailash, Museo Estación Indianilla, Mexico City Kailash, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Kailash, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills 2011 Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona KORA, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong 2010 KORA, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York KORA, Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver Elins Eagle-Smith Gallery, San Francisco Ricardo Mazal, Pintura y Fotografia 1994-2009, Museo Abstracto Manuel Felguerez, Zacatecas, Mexico New Works, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills 2009 Ricardo Mazal, Pintura y Fotografia 1994-2009, Museum of Art, Queretaro, Mexico Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver 2008 Ricardo Mazal Odenwald 1152, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Ricardo Mazal Odenwald 1152, Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington DC Dwight Hackett Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico Elins Eagle-Smith Gallery, San Francisco 2007 Mas Art Moderno y Contemporáneo, Barcelona Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Palm Desert, California Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver 2006 Ricardo Mazal, La Tumba de la Reina Roja: From Reality to Abstraction, Centro de las Artes, Pinacoteca, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico Ricardo Mazal, La Tumba de la Reina Roja: From Reality to 42
Abstraction, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona Ricardo Mazal, Works 1994 – 2006, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City Ricardo Mazal, Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Palm Desert, California Ricardo Mazal, New Works, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho 2005 Ricardo Mazal, La Tumba de la Reina Roja: From Reality to Abstraction, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City From Reality to Abstraction, Elins Eagle-Smith Gallery, San Francisco Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver Chiaroscuro Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona 2004 Ricardo Mazal, La Tumba de la Reina Roja: From Reality to Abstraction, Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ricardo Mazal, Paintings and Monotypes from the Series La Tumba de la Reina Roja, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ricardo Mazal, Obra Reciente, Mas Art Moderno y Contemporáneo, Barcelona Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan 2003 Ricardo Mazal, New Paintings, Elins and Eagles-Smith Gallery, San Francisco Ricardo Mazal, New Monotypes, Aurobora Press, San Francisco 2002 Ricardo Mazal, Paintings from The Center for Contemporary Arts, Galería Ramis Barquet, Monterrey, Mexico Ricardo Mazal, New Paintings and Monotypes. Ricardo Mazal, Gary Mankus Collaborative Photography, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico New Paintings by Ricardo Mazal, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico Ricardo Mazal, Abril 15, New Paintings and Works on Paper, Galería Ramis Barquet, New York 2001 Ricardo Mazal, Galerie 89, Aarwangen, Switzerland Ricardo Mazal, New Paintings, Photographs and Drawings, Rule Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Continuum, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Convergence, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills Constellation, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong 22/22 Artistas Mexicanos, Museum of Art, Queretaro, Queretaro, Mexico New Creative Constructs, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Entre Medios: Contemporary Latin American Art, Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver The Reason for Hope, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Beverly Hills 2009 The Reason for Hope, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Summer Group Show, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Here and Now, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Here and Now, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong 2008 Pushing Paint Around, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona 2007 Three Americas: Robert Kelly, Ricardo Mazal, Daniel Senise, Galeria Emma Molina, Monterrey, Mexico An Eclectic Eye: Selections From the Dan Leach Collection, Tucson Museum of Art, Arizona 2006 Miami Basel Art Fair, Elins Eagle Smith Gallery MACO, Galeria Emma Molina, Mexico City ARCO, MasArt, Madrid Chicago Art Fair, Elins Eagle Smith Gallery De la Coleción, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City 2005 Retrospective / Prospective, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho Espejos: Artistas contemporaneous de Mexico en Estados Unidos, Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, DC Transversal: Richard Serra, Jaime Brunson, Tony Coulter, Gary Komarin, Ricardo Mazal, Jae Ko, Robischon Gallery, Denver, Colorado 2004 Ray Smith, Fernanda Brunet, Sylvia Fernandez, Ricardo Mazal y Victor Rodríguez, Galería Lucía de la Puente, Lima, Peru 2003 Paper, Ramis Barquet Gallery, New York 11/11: Eleven Painters, Eleven Views of Abstraction, Chiaroscuro Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Abstract Art, New Mexico Artist Series, Anderson Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, Mexico SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS Siglo XX: Grandes Maestros Mexicanos (The Twentieth Century: Great Mexican Masters), Museo de Arte 2013 Natural Selection, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Natural Selection, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York Monterrey, Mexico A Revisiting: Ten Years of Visiting Artists, Art Students Between the Lines, Buschlen-Mowat Gallery, Palm League of Denver, Colorado Desert, California Home and the World, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore Paint Junkies, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco 2012 Inside Out, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Singapore Summer Group Show, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York 2002 Arte de América Latina, (Art from Latin America), Galería Lucía de la Puente, Lima, Peru 2011 Spectrum: East/West/Beyond, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Wrapped, Evo Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Hong Kong 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1994 1992 1990 1989 1988
Ricardo Mazal, Pintura, Fotografía, Dibujo, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City New Monotypes, Aurobora Press, San Francisco Ricardo Mazal, Obras, 1991-2000, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Monterrey, Mexico Recent Paintings, Galería Ramis Barquet, Monterrey, Mexico Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan Rule Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Denver, Colorado Erickson & Elins/Fine Art, San Francisco New Monotypes, Aurobora Press, San Francisco The E - Series, Ramis Barquet Gallery, New York Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona Ricardo Mazal, The Yellow Circle & Eve, Galería Maeght, Barcelona Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona Yellow Circle Series, Rule Modern and Contemporary Gallery, Denver, Colorado Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco Vail-Giesler Contemporary Art, Des Moines, Iowa Ricardo Mazal, Pintura y Fotografía, Galería Ramis Barquet, Monterrey, Mexico Galería Maeght, Barcelona Ricardo Mazal, Pinturas, Dibujos, Grabados, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City Scott Alan Gallery, New York Ricardo Mazal, Pinturas, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City Ricardo Mazal, Pinturas, Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, Mexico Ricardo Mazal, Scott Alan Gallery, New York Huellas del Tiempo, Ricardo Mazal, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City Huellas del Tiempo, Ricardo Mazal, Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, Mexico Galería Nomen, Barcelona Galería Carl Van Der Voort, Ibiza
2010
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Beau Geste: Abstract Paintings in Torroella di Montgrí, Michael Dunev Art Projects, Torroella de Montgrí, Girona, Spain Group Show, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan 2001 Tendencias, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City Between the Lines, Buschlen-Mowat Gallery, Palm Desert, California Between Worlds: Jewish Artists of Latin America, Mizel Arts Center, Denver, Colorado FOUR: Selected Works by Lynda Karshan/ Ricardo Mazal/ Rex Ray/ Sophie Smallhorn, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco Abstracciones, Traveling exhibition in Mexico organized by the Mexican Ministry of Culture 2000 Mexico/ New York: A Vital Dialogue, The Mexican Cultural Institute, New York Paisaje Urbano, Galería Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City 1999 Inapropiadamente Dibujo, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City Today and Everyday, Ramis Barquet Gallery, New York The Conscious Line, Anne Reed Gallery, Ketchum, Idaho Introductions & Dialogue, Michael Martin Galleries, San Francisco 1998 4th Salon de Arte, Bancomer, Mexico City Limn Gallery, San Francisco 1997 Laura Anderson Barbata, Linda Matalon, Ricardo Mazal: Embodied Abstraction, Americas Society Art Gallery, New York Painting Group Exhibition, Megan Fox Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico Drawings and Photographs, Megan Fox Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico 3er Premio MARCO (Third MARCO Prize exhibition), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico Red, Robin Rule Gallery, Denver, Colorado 1996 Modern Miniatures: The Redefining of the Small, Brewster Gallery, New York Collective: Paintings on Cloth and Paper, Ricardo Mazal, Bob Nugent, Gustavo Ramos Rivera, Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco Premio MARCO 1996 (MARCO Prize exhibition), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico Red, Robin Rule Gallery, Denver, Colorado 1995 Premio MARCO 1995 (MARCO Prize exhibition), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico Le Noir Est un Coleur, Galería Maeght, Madrid 1994 Pinturerías: el Arte del Taurino, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, City; traveling exhibition in Mexico, Spain and the United States 1993 The Inaugural Show, The Painting Center, New York 44
Abstractus, Scott Alan Gallery, New York En el Umbral del Siglo XXI, Galería Maeght, Barcelona Galería Carl Van Der Voort, Ibiza, Spain Parallel Project: New Moments in Mexican Painting, New York Pintura Mexicana de Hoy, Tradición e Inovación, Centro Cultural Alfa and Galería Arte Actual Mexicano, Monterrey, Mexico 1988 Galería Nomen, Barcelona Galería Carl Van Der Voort, Ibiza, Spain 1987 Galería Angel Romero, Madrid Tom Maddock Gallery, Barcelona Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona 1992 1991 1990 1989
AWARDS 2010 2002 1999 1991
Creador Artistico, Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (FONCA) 2002, Mexico Creador Artistico, Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (FONCA) 2002, Mexico Creador Artistico, Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte (FONCA) 1999, Mexico Pollock Krassner Foundation, New York
COLLECTIONS Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, Mexico Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City Cirque du Soleil, Montreal MACO-UNAM, Mexico City Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Monterrey, Mexico Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona Maeght Foundation, Paris Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez, Zacatecas, Mexico Museo de Arzobispado, Mexico City Banco de Mexico, Mexico City Deutsche Bank, New York and Germany CEMEX, Monterrey, Mexico Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, New York Apple Corporation, Cupertino, California Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai Private collections in the USA, Mexico, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Japan and Korea
Ricardo Mazal working in his studio, 2014, Santa Fe, New Mexico/photograph by Peter Ogilvie
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WWW.SUNDARAMTAGORE.COM Text © 2014 Sundaram Tagore Gallery Photographs © 2014 Ricardo Mazal
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Cover: Composition in Green 14, 2014, oil on linen, 78 x 120 inches/198 x 305 cm