JAVIER PELÁEZ
AT THE FRONT DOOR OF A STONE WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
JAVIER PELÁEZ WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY
AT THE FRONT DOOR OF A STONE
PRGB4 2017, oil on canvas 35 x 42 inches
AT THE FRONT DOOR OF A STONE
B
ased in Mexico City, Javier Peláez creates work that considers the myriad possibilities involved with the construction and perception of reality. Depicting enigmatic imagery that can be construed as simultaneously materializing and deconstructing, Peláez’s pictorial language is set in an incessant swing between opposing states of being. Fascinated by polarities, Peláez’s subjects walk the line between figuration and abstraction, disintegration and formation, certainty and uncertainty. The title of this exhibition references the 1962 poem, “Conversation with a Stone,” written by Wislawa Szymborska. Through an imaginary dialogue between a human speaker and a stone, Szymborska examines the human desire to understand everything about the world around us and the inevitable reality that it is an impossible quest. Essentially, the stone in this poem serves as a metaphor for all that is incomprehensible to us. With the paintings in this exhibition, Peláez invokes the primordial form of the stone, highly rendered in multi colors, juxtaposed against hard-edge, planar backgrounds. These cryptic forms seem to defy gravity, weightless yet imposing, their origins and trajectory unknown. The viewer is left with more questions than answers, as Peláez’s paintings seem to challenge their own existence. Javier Peláez was born in 1976. His work has been exhibited extensively in Mexico. He currently lives and works in Mexico City.
P2, 2017, oil on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 15.5 x 12.5 inches framed
MATERIA III, 2017, oil on mdf board, 15.7 x 11.8 inches
MATERIA I, 2017, oil on mdf board, 15.7 x 11.8 inches
Untitled I, 2017, oil on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 15.5 x 12.5 inches framed
Untitled II, 2017, oil on paper, 12 x 18 inches, 15.5 x 21.5 inches framed
Untitled III, 2017, oil on paper, 12 x 27 inches, 15.5 x 31 inches framed
P13, 2017, oil on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 15.5 x 12.5 inches framed
NATURALEZA INDETERMINADA 2016, oil on canvas 60 x 75 inches
Javier Peláez was born in 1976 in Mexico City, where he lives and works. EDUCATION La Salle University RESIDENCIES 2017 Casa Nano, Tokyo, Japan. October. 2016 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson Vermont, EUA. October SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 At The Front Door of A Stone, William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, USA 2017 Un Lugar Para Nombrar (Someplace to Name), Acatlán Cultural Center, Acatlán Faculty, UNAM, The State of México, México 2015 Naturaleza Indeterminada (Indeterminate Nature), Drexel Gallery, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico 2013 Vanitas, Museo de La Ciudad de Querétaro, Qro., Mexico 2012 Narciso (Narcissus), Toca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico 2010 Objetos Sagrados (Sacred Objects)- Toca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico 2008 Recent Work, Museo de la Universidad de Puebla, Pue., Mexico Objects and Metaphors, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY, USA 2005 Relatos de Luz (Chronicles of light)- Praxis Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2017
Puras Cosas Nuevas, Pantalla Blanca, Mexico City, Mexico Bastidores- Proyecto Público Prim, Mexico City, México Red Star, Winter Orbit, Galería Hispanica (Proyecto H), Mexico City, Mexico 2016 Vanidad y Desengaño, Museo de la Cancillería, Mexico City, Mexico Afinidades y Discordancias, Museo de la Cancillería, Mexico City, Mexico Gihon River School, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, USA 2015 Pararrayos/Blitzableiter, The Mexican Embassy, Berlín, Germany 2014 El Punto y la Línea- Galería de la Secretaría de Economía, Mexico City, Mexico El Milenio Visto Por El Arte, Instituto Cultural Cabañas, Jalisco, Mexico; Museo Metropolitano de Monterrey, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico XVI Bienal de Pintu a Rufino Tamayo, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico VI Bienal Fundación Codet, Centro Cultural Tijuana, Tijuana, Mexico. 2013 El Milenio Visto Por El Arte, Museo del Carmen, Mexico City, Mexico; Museo Chihuahuense de Arte Contemporáneo, Chihuahua, Mexico Figuraciones, Instituto Cultural de México en Miami, Miami, USA 2012 Resistencia, Diagrama, Mexico City, Mexico 2011 Summa II / Perspectivas en el Dibujo Contemporáneo, Toca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico Death / Nature, The Laundromat Gallery, Brooklyn, NY USA 2010 Summa / Perspectivas en el Dibujo Contemporáneo, Toca Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico 2008 A Collective Effort, Ideobox Gallery, Miami, USA
Superficies, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Tamaulipas (MACT), Tamps, México 2006 Small Works, Arcadia Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS Pinto Mazal Collection, Mexico City, Mexico Colección de la Secretaria de Hacienda, Mexico City, Mexico Colección del Museo de la Cancillería (The Chancellery Museum of Mexico), Mexico City, Mexico Milenio Collection, Mexico City, Mexico Bastidores Collection, Mexico City, Mexico Yaco García Arte Latinoamericano Collection, Panamá City, Panamá
DISTINCTIONS In 2016, Peláez’s work was selected to become part of The Bastidores Collection (Mexico City) and a short documentary about his life and work was made. Peláez’s work was part of the XVI Rufino Tamayo Biennial of Painting in 2014, presented at the Tamayo Museum, Mexico City and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca. Also during 2014 his work was part of the 6th Miradas Biennial of the Codet Foundation. Peláez was co-founder of the independent project Diagrama from 2012 to 2015, focused mainly on showing and discussing contemporary painting in Mexico. Peláez’s work will be included in the book: Pintura - Mexico (Volume I), that will be published during 2017 by Sicomoro Ediciones
Production: Rob Brander Photography: Rob Brander Text: Savannah Sjostrom All images copyright Javier Pelaez and William Turner Gallery 2017 WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY 2525 Michigan Avenue E-1 Santa Monica, CA 90292 ph: 310.453.0909 Turnergallery@gmail.com www.williamturnergallery.com