They are monsters stiffened in rigor mortis. That is the colossally scaled sculptures, such as a 28 meter whale of almost unimaginable mass sited in a forest in Patagonia, for which the Argentinian artist Adrián Villar Rojas (*1980, Rosario, Argentina) has become well- known. Leaves falling from trees in the harsh autumn weather have transformed the sculpture into a soft russet color. The scarred aquatic fugitive lying in an abandoned forest creates a shocking impression, its loss of orientation and isolation being the obvious cause of death. The enigmatic beauty of Villar Rojas’ Mi familia muerta becomes an allegorical warning to civilization at the Bienal del Fin del Mundo (End of The World Bienniale) in Ushuaia in Argentinian Patagonia. Villar Rojas produces creatures predating human memory. Giant bones lie in a park in Kassel, the components of a work for dOCUMENTA (13) comprising 70 sculptures, whilst individual prehistoric animals coated...in seaweed and shells stand in the waters off Istanbul, a bison, a burdened elk, a fallen camel, a still alert ostrich, their bodies glistening white in the sun, time’s burden is indeed a heavy one.
Inviting Villar Rojas to Bregenz was a natural decision. His cast concrete works fill, even completely occupy, vast spaces. Kunsthaus Bregenz is also constructed from cast concrete, its distinguishing feature is its unique light, its strength large sculptural gestures. It is no wonder that during his first visit Villar Rojas was not only interested in the building’s material, but also the rigors to which it has been exposed during the many exhibitions over the past 19 years. Civilization will be put to a stress test which could hardly have been effected in such a manner in any other space.
In KUB’s second exhibition next year Villar Rojas will be exploring both Kunsthaus Bregenz’s concrete construction and its history.
Adrián Villar Rojaswas born in 1980 in Rosario, Argentina. He studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes and was awarded a scholarship at the Clinica de Artes Visuales in Buenos Aires. Villar Rojas lives and works in Rosario.
Rojas’ recent solo exhibitions include Rinascimento, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (2015); Two Suns, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York (2015); Fantasma, Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2015); Films Before Revolution, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2013); and Poems for Earthlings, SAM Art Projects, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris (2011).
He also represented Argentina in the 54th Venice Biennial, and parti-cipated in the Istanbul Biennial 2011 and dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel.
Villar Rojas has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Sharjah Biennial Prize, awarded by the Sharjah Art Foundation (2015), and the Zurich Art Prize at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich (2013).
Entrada actualizada el el 29 mar de 2017
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