I recently came across the genre of Latin Art. What drew my to this genre were the geometric patterns of a piece of work that was discussed in an interview I found in Art Review (Vol 66. No3. April 2014. Pge 61), it reminded me of my own my work. The piece of art work I discovered in the book had significant similarities to my recent creation where I used wire and wool (images above). The work is called Esfera, 1960 by the artist Gego (from Venezuela). In the interview, art collector Patricia Phelps de Cisneros, describes how “being in the presence of (geometric) abstract works gives me a sense of calm, of harmony”. This is something I can relate to and is the reason I feel I obsessively create these patterns and shapes in my work, it brings a sense of calm and control to the hectic everyday life that I lead. It is my way of creating order in natural landscapes, or any type of environment, where there I feel I have no control of the order.
I hadn’t previously looked at Latin Art, however I was surprised to see the vast amount of geometric influence found in the work, also influences from nature and life. Theme’s I am exploring in my work.
I did some further research, reading a book called ‘Inverted Utopias- Avant Garde Art Latin America‘ by Mari Carmen Ramirez.
In it, the artist Torres Garcia describes the nature of Latin American art
“each work is an idea that has a development and it’s life, like the different forms of life found in nature”. (pge 193).
The book describes how this genre of art has a ritualistic structure, the act of doing in the now. The work is forever evolving through taking on different connotations, either therapeutic or environmental (pge. 197). This is very relevant to my own work, which seems to constantly evolving by combining the environmental and therapeutic connotations. The work comes to a stops when I feel I cannot physically carry on.
On Page 198, theorist Clark explains how the “artist vanishes within the world, spirit melds with collective, self persists, for the type of vital structure that was contingent upon the hyper activation of the artist’s senses. Thrust into a labyrinth… work produces stimuli that can be satisfied only through individual’s direct experience”. This quote demonstrates the importance of my process of working, I like to work alone, with no interruptions. If I am interrupted I feel I become frustrated and the work doesn’t feel like an actual piece of work because I haven’t fully immersed myself into the process.
I really enjoyed reading this book and it opened my mind to a whole new genre of art which I had never come across due to presumptions about this genre. I look forward to discovering more information regarding this.
