Francisca Sutil
dal 30/9/2003 al 1/11/2003
Segnalato da
30/9/2003
Francisca Sutil
Nohra Haime Gallery, New York
Transmutations will unite the exploration of color and matter with the artist's perception of the cycle of life. Through November 1st, the spectator will be able to contemplate Sutil's work as a surge of color and light that will ignite questions of the viewer's beliefs about life and death, most notably death.
TRANSMUTATIONS
On October 2nd, the Nohra Haime Gallery will present six of Francisca Sutil's
latest works. TRANSMUTATIONS will unite the exploration of color and matter
with the artist's perception of the cycle of life. Through November 1st, the
spectator will be able to contemplate Sutil's work as a surge of color and
light that will ignite questions of the viewer's beliefs about life and death,
most notably death.
This exhibition, as is a common characteristic of Sutil's work, is a series
of abstract paintings composed of vertical brush strokes applied on a hard
surface of pigmented glue chalk gesso structure that deals with existential
issues. Sutil is reflecting about issues of life and death and what comes after
death-and intending to formulate questions. She presents abstract works in such
a
way that the viewer is able to carefully observe the artwork and enter into a
realm of light and color that forces one to look beyond the paint and search
for answers to the questions presented by the artist.
In TRANSMUTATIONS, Sutil uses chromatic variations to create compositions
dealing with the cycle of life-red represents life, yellow represents that which
is transcendental and blue is symbolic of death. Thus, in her combinations,
as she mentioned in an interview, Sutil shows us her view of the life cycle:
"birth, growth, love, weakness, abandonment, remembrance, passing, appearance,
death, end." This might seem somewhat pessimistic, but if one looks carefully
at her paintings one understands that just as the cycle "ends" in one aspect,
it may also be reborn. In her recent exhibition in Santiago she presented a
coffin painted with variations of yellows from deep orange yellows to lemon
tones to whites. Sutil believes that perhaps, when one dies, one's individual
energy merges into a universal energy.
HOMAGE, the monumental diptych in the exhibition, came as a result of the
tragic events of September 11. The left panel starts with blue tones which
symbolizes peace and ends with red tones which symbolizes activity, life,
elements
which were present before the events, while the right panel starts with a
chromatic variation of fire reds, which symbolizes destruction that transforms
and
ends with darker cold blues, which symbolize end.
For Sutil, it is possible to reflect profoundly about life through the
vertical strokes that enable her to explore infinite chromatic combinations that
produce light and darkness. By placing red over a darker color, such as violet,
Sutil feels that light is reflected differently than if the red were painted
over a lighter color, such as yellow. This gives her the opportunity to
create infinite tones of red, yellow, and blue. The final result is a
transcendental series of paintings.
Born in Chile in 1952, Sutil moved to New York in 1977 where in 1981 she
received her M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY. Previously she
studied
at the Parsons School of Design and she studied at the Whitney Museum of Art
Seminar. Sutil has received numerous grants and awards such as a Fellowship
from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, NEA from the Drawing Center (Paper
Conservation), New York, EMF from Artists Space, New York, among others. In
2000, she was commissioned to complete a series of twelve paintings for a
private chapel in Santiago de Chile.
Sutil's work is included in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in
Washington; Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery at the University of Texas in
Austin; the Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York; Museo de Artes
Visuales, Santiago; Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago; Museo de Bellas Artes,
Caracas; Chase Manhattan Bank, New York and Santiago; O.C.P., Paris, France;
Reader's Digest, New York; World Bank, Washington D.C.; IBM, Santiago; SSC & B
Lintas, New York; and the Xerox Corporation, Stamford, Connecticut, among
others.
In 2004, Sutil will have a one-person exhibition at the Museo de Bellas Artes
in Santiago, Chile that will travel to several venues.
OPENING: Wednesday October 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.
HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM
For further information contact William Davidson
Nohra Haime Gallery
41 East 57th Street
6th Floor
New York, NY 10022
(212)888-3550 Fax: (212)888-7869