JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ – ‘VISTA AEREA DE LA LIBERTAD HUMANA’

PRESS RELEASE

‘VISTA AEREA DE LA LIBERTAD HUMANA’
(Aerial view of the human freedom)

JAVIER RUIZ PEREZ

Curated by Gabriel Rolt
08 MAY –  10 JUNE 

Opening reception: Sunday 08 May, 17 – 21 hrs

Location:
The Curators Room Oosterpark / Atelier Artplaats 
Mauritskade 55C, 1092 AD Amsterdam, The Netherland
Open: Friday – Sunday, 13 to 17 hrs

The Curators Room is proud to announce Vista Aerea de la Libertad Humana, a solo show by Javier Ruiz Perez curated by Gabriel Rolt.

Contrary to his previous works, this series can be read as a collection, a gathering of fragments all belonging to the same story: like chapters in a book, each painting is the representation of a scene that takes place in the same exact space: the Mountain.

This Andalusian landscape serves as a magical dwelling, a surrounding that is mystical,  where the absurd unfolds: it’s the place of the ritual. Instead of borrowing from visual representations of contemporary culture, this time Ruiz’s inspiration seems rooted in a germinal layer, situated somewhere at the origin of humankind. The warmth of the beginning encompasses the exhibition as a whole, touching elements such as death, love and desire as natural facets of any existing life form (Te dare todo el amor que llevo dentro, la soledad mata al hombre).

Folkloristic signs and symbols are recognizable as the general formal language of the series: every painting depicts a different scene, each taking place in the exact same place, in temporal frames that might even overlap (see for instance ‘El dia en el sue los locos le ganaron la partida a la razon’, where the subjects appear to be pasted together in the same space from different temporal spheres). Similar to theatrical ‘Mise- en -scènes’, the subjects stare at the viewer with the full acceptance of their own absurdity, satyrical and unbothered, blunt in their surreality. 

Also the technique employed in the series is different than in Ruiz’s former works: although reproduced from digitally constructed collages, the typical brightness of colors and the employment of artificial source are accompanied here by a thickness of the paint. Each layer follows another in a stratification that suggests three-dimensionality and volume, replacing the previous flatness of the image with a new density, which delivers a sense of vibrancy reminiscent of works by artists such as Freud or Delacroix, pivotal inspirations to the artist. 

This new body of work is thus a celebration of mysticism, a declaration of love for painting as an artistic practice capable to deliver time and space as elements  truly soaked with the profound unknown each artist aims to touch upon.

– Text by Sara van Bussel

Javier Ruiz Perez (La Carolina, Jaén, Spain, 1989)’ pantings are collage-like compositions consisting of visual footage collected from social media and the
internet. The depicted subjects are always living figures, a group of people or single individuals, flowers and still-lifes against a background of andalusian landscapes. His paintings always manage to deliver an uncanny balance between credibility and oddity, resulting in depictions that are incomprehensible, yet plausible.

His work is part of important private and museum collections including Museum Voorlinden , NL and The Green Family Foundation, Us.
Ruiz Perez lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands