José Alberto Marchi

Chalkboard in Flames, 2013 oil on canvas

40 x 44 inches

José Alberto MarchiSacrificio

October 5 - November 27, 2013

Bergamot Station 2525 Michigan Avenue E2 Santa Monica CA 90404

t.310.829.4455 www.latinamericanmasters.com

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José Alberto Marchi

Introduction 6

Small Fires 11Glow 13Draped Model 15 Fire in the Artists Studio 17Fire in the Artists Studio 19Workers Burning the Paintings 21Iconoclastas 23Landscape with Cars and House on Fire 25Sacrificio 27The Classroom 29Chalkboard in Flames 31Chalkboard in Flames 33Espera 35Weavers 37 List of Paintings 39Gallery History 38

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Esta nueva serie de pinturas que presento en Latin American Masters está inicialmente inspirada en la escena final de Sacrificio (1986), último film del realizador ruso Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986).

Más allá del implícito (y explícito) homenaje a Tarkovsky —artista que ha influido en mi obra desde los comienzos mismos de ella—, no hay aquí ninguna intención de ilustrar o interpretar su filmografía. Sí, en cambio, busco trabajar alrededor del tema del “sacrificio”, a partir de la imagen de la casa incendiada por quien todo lo ofrenda, hasta su silencio, en pos de una presunta salvación individual o, quizá, colectiva.

En torno de este núcleo, visual y conceptual, he ido desarrollando las primeras composiciones de la serie a la manera de pequeños bocetos en grisalla con óleo sobre tela, que fueron ya exhibidas en LA Art Show 2013 y que, finalmente, adquirieron una mayor escala para esta muestra con los ajustes técnicos y compositivos que el nuevo formato requiere, aunque tratando de conservar el espíritu monocromo e inacabado propio de la grisalla.

Sería falso decir que un artista “busca” su tema. El tema va madurando en él como un fruto y le impulsa hacia la configuración. Es como un parto. El poeta nada tiene de lo que pudiera estar orgulloso. No es dueño de la situación, sino su vasallo, su servidor; la creatividad es para él la única forma de vida posible, y cada una de sus obras supone un acto al que no se puede negar libremente.

Andrei Tarkovsky, Esculpir en el tiempo

SacrificioPinturas de José Alberto Marchi

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This new series of paintings that I’m presenting at Latin American Masters was originally inspired by the final scene of The Sacrifice (1986), the last film ever made Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986).

Beyond paying an implicit (and explicit) tribute to Tarkovsky, an artist that influenced my work from the very beginning, these paintings do not attempt in any way whatsoever to illustrate or interpret Tarkovsky’s films. On the other hand, the new series of paintings do attempt to work around the subject of the ‘sacrifice’, using as a point of departure Tarkovsky’s image of a burning house, set fire by one who is wiling to offer everything, even his silence, in pursuit of some assumed salvation.

It was around this visual and conceptual core that I started developing the first pieces of the series as if they were small sketches done in oil grisaille on canvas. These small pieces were first exhibited at LA Art Show 2013 and, now, they’ve acquired a larger scale for this exhibit at Latin American Masters, incorporating the necessary technical and compositional adjustments that the new format obviously requires but trying, at the same time, to preserve the particular spirit of the grisaille.

It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a fruit and begins to demand expression. It is like childbirth. The poet has nothing to be proud of. He is not master of the situation, but a servant. Creative work is his only possible form of existence, and his every work is like a deed he has no power to annul.

Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time

SacrificioPaintings by José Alberto Marchi

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Los protagonistas de estas obras son anónimos personajes retratados en fotografías de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, fuentes visuales citadas recurrentemente en mi obra desde la década del 90, que, descontextualizados de sus labores originales, se concentran en esos mismos —pero ahora casi paradójicos— quehaceres alrededor del “fuego” o de la luz (única zona de color en la tela), y así ejecutan acciones tan metódicas y precisas como, en este nuevo contexto, extrañas e inexplicables, que configuran escenas en las que se detiene su labor cotidiana o más bien la aplican a:

- observar el sacrificial incendio (I), - pintar una maqueta en escala que se prende fuego ante sus “académicas” miradas (II), - incinerar, cual iconoclastas, montículos de cuadros (III), - presenciar una clase en cuya pizarra arden los dibujos esbozados (IV), o - sentarse en círculo alrededor de una luz silenciosa (V).

Al referirse a su último film, Tarkovsky sostenía: “todo lo que sucede en Sacrificio permite una multiplicidad de interpretaciones. Hay varias lecturas, lecturas diferentes, y ésa era mi intención: no quiero imponer a nadie una solución determinada, aunque por supuesto tengo mis propias ideas respecto a todo ello”. Siguiendo sus palabras, no pretendo explicar o interpretar estas obras cerrando la mirada del público con soluciones determinadas y, “aunque por supuesto tengo mis propias ideas respecto a todas ellas”, prefiero “sacrificarlas” en pos de las que puedan suscitar, para que así imágenes y conceptos se reconfiguren de forma abierta a través del lenguaje pictórico; justamente ése es mi intento en el quehacer diario con la pintura.

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The protagonists of these paintings are anonymous characters that appeared in photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (photographs that have been recurrent visual sources in my work since the 1990’s). Once de-contextualized from their original tasks and placed around the ‘fire’ (the only colored area of the canvas), these characters become strange and inexplicable. In this new context, these characters may stop whatever it is they usually do or, even better, they can still do that same daily activity though now ‘applying’ it to:

- observe the sacrificial fire (I);- paint a scale mock-up house that catches fire before their ‘scholarly’ gazes (II);- incinerate (as if iconoclasts ) mounds of paintings (III);- be part of a classroom where chalkboard drawings catch fire (IV); or- sit in a circle around a silent light (V).

Talking about his last film, Tarkovsky said: ‘Everything that happens in The Sacrifice allows for a multiplicity of interpretations. There are several readings, different readings, and that is what I wanted: I do not want to impose some definite solution on anybody, regardless that I obviously have my own ideas about it all’. Following his lead on this, I attempt neither to explain nor to interpret these paintings, so that the gazes of those who look at them become closed by definite solutions. Regardless, that ‘I obviously have my own ideas about it all’, I’d rather ‘sacrifice’ them in pursuit of those other paintings these ones might invoke, so that both images and concepts can shape themselves freely through the pictorial language. That is exactly what I always try to do when it comes to painting.

Jose MarchiBuenos Aires, 2013

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Small Fires, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 10 inches

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Glow, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 15 inches

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Draped Model, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 16 inches

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Fire in the Artists Studio, 2012, oil on canvas 10 x 20 inches

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Fire in the Artists Studio, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 70 inches

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The Workers Burning the Paintings, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 18 inches

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Iconoclastas, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 70 inches

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Landscape with Car and House on Fire, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 20 inches

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Sacrificio, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 72 inches

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Chalkboard in Flames, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 11 inches

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Chalkboard in Flames, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 44 inches

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The Classroom, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 16 inches

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Espera, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 inches

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Weavers, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 17 inches

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José Alberto Marchi List of Paintings

1. Small Fires, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 10 inches

2. Glow, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 15 inches

3. Draped Model, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 16 inches

4. Fire in the Artists Studio, 2012, oil on canvas 10 x 20 inches

5. Fire in the Artists Studio, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 70 inches

6. Workers Burning the Paintings, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 18 inches

7. Iconoclastas, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 70 inches

8. Landscape with Car and House on Fire, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 20 inches

9. Sacrificio, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 72 inches

10. The Classroom, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 11 inches

11. Chalkboard in Flames, 2013, oil on canvas, 10 x 16 inches

12. Chalkboard in Flames, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 44 inches

13. Espera, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 inches

14. Weavers, 2012, oil on canvas, 10 x 17 inches

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Latin American Masters

Since opening in 1987, Latin American Masters has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading galleries for Latin American art. Latin American Masters has presented solo exhibitions for: Francisco Toledo, Olga de Amaral, Arnaldo Roche, Rufino Tamayo, Gunther Gerzso, Roberto Matta, Carlos Merida, Wifredo Lam, Armando Morales, Fernando de Szyszlo, and other important artists.

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