6/9/2007
Ruby Osorio
Vamiali, Athens
Upon This Waking Edge...The work of Ruby Osorio addresses issues of identity, transformation and the creative boundaries between the fictional and the mundane. This latest series of drawings focuses specifically on the surrealist movement of the 1920's.
Upon This Waking Edge...
vamiali’s gallery is pleased to present the first solo show in
Athens of American artist Ruby Osorio titled “Upon This Waking
Edge…”. Ruby Osorio was born in Los Angeles where she lives and
works.
The work of Ruby Osorio addresses issues of identity, transformation
and the creative boundaries between the fictional and the mundane. In
the past, Osorio has mined inspiration from a wide range of literary
and cultural references, creating detailed drawings/paintings where
the fantastic plays a central role.
Viewed individually, the drawings
bely a logical narrative. However as a series of works, Osorio’s
drawings purposely abstract the narrative structure to expose
reoccurring themes of yearning, desire, transcendance, amid absurd
scenarios where the ambiguity of meaning implies elusiveness and
constant change. Utilizing the female heroine as a central character,
Osorio subtly deconstructs the conventional or traditional attributes
projected onto women by positioning them in a parallel universe where
no rules apply and everything is at the disposal of their own creation.
In this latest series of drawings, with the title “Upon This Waking
Edge…”, that will be presented at vamiali’s gallery, Osorio has
further mined the references of art history focusing specifically on
the surrealist movement of the 1920’s- a movement which surfaced as
a critique of its times and as a response to the overrationalization
of a bourgeois society. Contextualizing her works in hindsight of
this art movement, Osorio reasserts the value of extracting meaning
from one’s own unconscious life. Moreover, the reinterpration of
certain surrealist works in Osorio’s oveure redress the role of the
woman artist in contemporary society. Where surrealist thought was
dominated by the likes of male artists such as Dali, Duchamp, and
Breton, Osorio’s revival of the surreal in her drawings attest to
the enduring power of sly subversion in questioning who has the
authority to create meaning and how meaning is disseminated in a
larger discourse; in this case the art world.
Ruby Osorio has participated in many exhibitions including “Extreme
Unction”, Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles, (solo), “Story of a Girl
(Who Awakes Far, Far Away)”, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St.
Louis, (solo), “Domestic Departures”, CSU Fullerton Art Gallery,
Fullerton, Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City,
”The Living Room”, Randall Scott Gallery, Washington.
Ruby Osorio, "Three Widows", 113x112cm, gouache, acrylic and ink on
paper, 2007
opening september 7 2007
Vamiali's
Samou 1 - Athens
Wednesday - Friday 14.00-20.00, Saturday 12-17
Free admission