Gabriel Rico. Nature Loves to Hide. Gallery Perrotin Paris
Gallery Perrotin Paris presents Gabriel Rico’s Nature Loves to Hide. Thirteen works are installed across three major galleries, hosting two wall installations, seven assemblages with a strong sculptural element and a mural packed with “formulas” arranged across a vast wall. Together, these works form an experience of delirium and dialectical tension. Unlike the direct abstraction we form when establishing the overall meaning of something, and contrary to the “clarity” of the identity principle which defines an object based on the images we associate with it, these operations are fundamentally visual – the synthesis of objects that do not evoke a conventional image but, first and foremost, a simple material presence.
Gabriel Rico’s formulas are brief and precise expressions to make, solve or achieve something concrete. Thus, they are processes helping to resolve problems or carry out tasks with a series of symbols and rules. The big difference between mathematical formulas and Rico’s is that our artist’s symbols are “things”; objects steeped in value for being real by their very nature. Therefore, these applications are not intended to be a symbolic or abstract representation of a real being but the synthesis or fusion of things that exist on the material plane. Here, we are reversing the traditional process of representation, experimenting with absurd procedures, then, instead of ignoring reality, taking the physical nature of these objects and combining them to see what happens.
Gabriel Rico
Gabriel Rico (b. 1980, Lagos de Moreno, Mexico) lives and works in Guadalajara. He studied at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Guadalajara. Recent exhibitions have taken place at: The Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, USA (2019), The group exhibition May You Live In Interesting Times, Venice Biennial, Italy (2019), the Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, the Power Station, Dallas (both 2017); Gyeonggi Creation Center, Ansan-do, South Korea, Fundación Calosa, Irapuato, Mexico (both 2016); MAZ Zapopan Art Museum, Mexico, Korea Ceramic Foundation, Seoul, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice (all 2015); and Ex-Escuela de Cristo, Aguascalientes, Mexico (2014).
