Slide Show in the context of Buenos Aires Loop – Kunsthalle Vienna
Double Decker
4 May – 6 June 2006
Structure, form and surface plays a significant role in all of Gustavo Mendez-Liska’s works. In texture and colour one finds a strong analogy to the earth, to the Pristine stone, to nature and at the same time to the old faded paper known from the old European drawings: a brown surface that recolours the work. His technique consists of applying several layers, which in the end result in a compact structure. He thus succeeds in expressing the complexity of his realities through a specific lightness. The optical roughness of the surfaces, the ochre colours are reminiscent of pre-Columbian, historical art. The contemporary materials and techniques, however, refer irrevocably to today. The new, Latin American-European hybrid has succeeded.
Gustavo Mendez-Liska embodies two cultures, or several, and invites the viewer to engage with them. Sometimes he is allowed to go into the depths of the work, sometimes he finds himself reflected in it, always he is present. Paradoxically, the viewer is mirrored in the artist’s strong subjectivity. Whether he stands on one side or the other is then no longer relevant as an option. There are only two spaces or possibilities in which the viewer feels included or alienated. But he is never not perceived.
„Doppeldecker“ focuses on a significant aspect of Vienna: the Gürtel line, which serves as the boundary between two realities. This Viennese Gürtel is a turning point between two distinct worlds that, in turn, form a single, complex universe. Such geographical points exist in every major metropolis, representing spaces of transition, confrontation, reflection, and decision-making. They challenge our binary perceptions: light or dark, positive or negative, ascent or descent. Gustavo Mendez-Liska explores these dualities on multiple levels, examining them simultaneously with intensity and dynamism, reflecting constantly without passing judgment, with fascination and vibrant depth.aluation, fascinating, red….
Double Decker, 2006
80 slides, colour
Courtesy Gustavo Mendez-Liska
Text © Enrique Guitart 2006
