Madrid’s Elba Benitez Gallery is set to open, on Friday February 21, Mexican artist Mario Garcia Torres’ solo show.
In terms of philosophic debates, the difference – that “what’s left” of Wittgenstein’s phrase – between simple movement and deliberate action generally aims at the intention. But identical gestures might entail different meanings in different situations. A raised arm, is it a wave? Or a threat? Perhaps a request for help? And, although the intention might determine the meaning, the context also plays a role when it comes to establishing significance. In the same breath, the meaning of artistic gestures can change and can be changed depending on a combination of intentions and contexts; where is the artwork exhibited?, why is it showcased?, what’s next to it?, etc. These complex elements linked to the artistic production, distribution, reception and documentation are present in the heart of the work carried out by Mario Garcia Torres (Mexico, 1975).
Xoco, the Kid Who Loved Being Bored (cont.) is the main piece of the display, a 16mm - animation movie that is screened on one of the gallery’s walls, accompanied by a series of painted forillos, just like the ones used by professional animators, that are also exhibited on the walls. Xoco has been a recurrent character in the recent movies and art books of Garcia Torres. The most outstanding feature of Xoco is nothingness; in Xoco’s world, nothingness has an almost-Zen indetermination and the emancipating quality of boredom is cheered. But here, in Xoco, the Kid Who Loved Being Bored (cont.), the screening framework becomes the authentic exhibition space; and when it juxtaposes in the mind of viewers with the different painted forillos, the navigation and negotiation of Xoco with the space gain endless interpretations. That’s why Xoco represents a symbol of the exhibition process as such and its crucial role within the construction of the artistic meaning. Xoco might practically do nothing, but it doesn’t mean that nothing happens.
The show also includes a second animation film titled The Remains of a Never-seen-by-the-artist Animation. It’s made up of found-footage picked up by Garcia Torres out of the remains of a cutting room in an animation studio. The Remains visually takes us to experimental abstract movies from the 1960 and 1970 decades. But, at the same time, The Remains exhibits Garcia Torres’ characteristic method. Upon giving new life to what has been thrown away, he literal and metaphorically uses the history of art and, in this process, bends the stasis of history on the ongoing present.
Mario Garcia Torres’s research-driven work includes photographic presentations, conceptual installations and pieces based on the language and it frequently recalls interstices that have been passed over by art in recent generations. His work has been showcased in the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), 8th Panama Art Biennale (2008), Yokohama Triennial (2008), 29th Sao Paulo Biennale, Gwangju Biennale (2010), Documenta 13 (2012) and 9th Mercosul Biennale (2013). He has showed his work in such museums and institutions as the Barbican Art Gallery, Thyssen-Bornemizsa Art Contemporary, Musée dÁrt Moderne de la Ville in Paris, Tate Modern, Stedelijk Museum, Zurich Kunsthalle, Jeu de Pomme, Reina Sofia National Museum Art Center and Vostell-Malpartida Museum in 2013. This is his second exhibition at Elba Benitez Gallery.
George Stolz
Source: Elba Benitez Gallery
