Henrique Faria Fine Art is pleased to present “Other Voices”, a new body of work from Colombian artist Luis Roldan.
Combining objects with sounds and scents, Luis Roldan’s solo exhibition transforms the gallery with installations, sculpture, collages, and drawings.
This exhibition is inspired by the work of Mexican artist Martin Ramirez (1895-1963), considered by many to be an “outsider artist”; however, this is not the case for Roldan who considers Ramirez’s work of great and fascinating quality. The alternative voice of Ramirez is one that Roldan hears clearly. A voice that says to him that everyone has the right to express his/her own opinion.
The large format work, Other Voices, is assembled from different drawings of an image of a horseman, a classical symbol of power and authority. However Roldan has executed this work on recycled board that imitates sheets of a child’s notebook, bringing it down to a more elementary interpretation. The individual sheets have been randomly mounted, fragmenting and dispersing this strength in a more democratic manner.
Even the most humble object has a voice and has an important role to play. With The Dawn, a sculpture incorporating a ramp with soil and horse manure, Roldan perfectly demonstrates this opinion. In the same way Sisyphus, from Greek mythology, repeatedly tries to push the rock up the hill, the dung beetle is forever trying to maneuver the ball of dung. In actual fact the dung is not just a waste product of the horse, but is essential for the successful incubation of the beetle larvae, and a constant, abundant source of food.
Roldan’s Drifter is an electric model train that rushes along a track looping around in a figure-eight, endlessly tracing the symbol of infinity. Covered in colors and illegible fashion imagery, the train transforms itself into a moving sculpture and drawing. One becomes a voyeur on a train journey and all that is associated with it, including childhood memories and Freudian symbolism. Drifter is about how each individual perceives and carries out his/her life journey and how each is dramatically different, despite all of us being on the same track.
Roldan was born in Cali, Colombia and graduated in 1979 in Bogota and received a scholarship to study art history and modern engraving at Atelier 18, Paris. He currently lives and works between New York and Bogota. In 2000 he was awarded the Premio Luis Caballero, and in 2009 he represented Colombia at the 53rd Venice Biennale.
Our reception will be in conjunction with Mireille Mosler who will be exhibiting Spring Flowers.
On view until May 7, 2011. www.mimireillemoslerltd.com.
Henrique Faria Fine Art specializes in geometric abstract, conceptual, modern and contemporary Latin American art and will be exhibiting at ZonaMACO art fair in Mexico City April 6-10. Booth ZMS12 www.ZonaMACO.com