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7/4/2003

Miguel Angel Rios

WhiteBox Art Center, New York

Ni me Busques & No me Encuentras

A three channel DVD projection and related works on paper

Curated by Raul Zamudio

Ni me busques ...No me encuentras is an exhibition of recent work by Miguel Angel Rios consisting of a three-channel DVD projection and related works on paper. The DVD projection, from which the exhibition takes its name, was filmed in the desert region of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The locale of Ni me busques...No me encuentras situates it within the rich history of landscape representation. Some influences that can be detected in the work are the Dutch Baroque panorama, Nature and the Kantian sublime, late 19th century photography and optical viewing machines like the stereoscope, and the landscape paintings of Dr. Atl.

The use of landscape in the exhibition is more than just a backdrop, for it is part of a genre that is rife with cultural, social and political meaning. This can be seen in the diverse traditions of landscape depiction that are equally inscribed with the historical context of their inception as well as being articulations of a particular aesthetic or style. Thus the Dutch Baroque panorama, for example, evinces not only to what the art historian Sveltlana Alpers calls "The Art of Describing," but is also related in a roundabout way to Dutch colonialism via the role of the artist as dominant surveyor over a subordinated landscape. Rios' DVD projection addresses this by presenting us a psycho-geographical sojourn that unfolds within an organic mise-en-scene of animated flora and fauna.

Included in the exhibition are related works on paper of landscape imagery enhanced through digitization. They serve as formal and thematic counterpoints to the DVD projection, creating a visual and conceptual dialogue between them. Whereas the DVD projection is devoid of post-production manipulation and is formally driven by wide-pan shots, multi-channel projection and other cinematic techniques that allude to the landscape as "non-objective," the works on paper subvert landscape representation altogether through their emphasis on simulation and artificiality. The exhibition poetically reminds us what a philosopher once said about nature in general: "that nature is anything but natural."

Special thanks to Phyllis Hojel. Video courtesy of Marco Noire Contemporary Art

Opening Reception Thursday, April 10, 6 - 8 pm

Viewing hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11am - 6pm. Please contact our office for further information and/or images.

White Box is a 501[c][3] not-for-profit arts organization.

WHITE BOX
is located in the heart of the Chelsea art district of NYC
525 West 26th Street
(between 10th and 11th Avenues)
New York, New York 10001
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