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17/1/2000

Luis Gonzalez Palma

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York

Luis Gonzalez Palma's (b. 1957), exhibition features work from his artistic production over the last decade. In his photographic portraits he reworks and explores, in symbolic terms: popular, religious, and indigenous subjects from the history of Guatemala. Conceptual notions of, solitude, pain and alienation are captured. Emotion is emphasized by the sitters' attributes, as seen in Portrait of a Boy (above). The crown of thorns, a universal emblem of suffering, acts as a halo, conjuring a sense of sanctity in the boy.

Individuals are most frequently portrayed in the work. The focal point in the images is often the bright white detail shining through the ocher tones of the bitumen. These earthly hues allude to the Guatemalan soil and candle smoked altars found in Baroque churches, setting the tone for a reflective state of mind. The studio portraits are not about achieving physical likeness of the sitter, rather, Gonzalez Palma searches for the beauty and pain transmitted and reflected in their faces. The sitters are predominantly of Mayan decent and often friends of the artist.

Gonzalez Palma is essentially a self-taught photographer. Throughout his career he has continuously experimented and appropriated various materials and photographic techniques. On view will be examples of his gelatin silver, platinum, photogravure and ambrotype prints. Gonzalez Palma's hallmark is the deep ochre patina achieved by the brushed on bitumen. In some instances he distresses the surface of the photograph, others he tears and uses as collage. The emphasis in his photographic work is the shift away from the camera and onto the finished object itself.

Of note: the first comprehensive survey of Guatemalan documentary photography to be presented in the United States, Picturing Guatemala, will be on view at Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021 Tel 212 249 8950, from January 18 through April 16, 2000. The exhibition will explore the history and development of Guatemalan society and its photographic practices. It offers a complete and objective view of over a hundred years of the nation's cultural history.

For more information, please contact Malin Barth.

Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc.
153 East 61st Street
New York, New York USA 10021
Tel: (212) 223-1059
Fax: (212) 223-1937
Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11am-5pm
or by appointment

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