PABLO ATCHUGARRYr e c e p t i o n o c t o b e r 2nd 6 - 9 p m

RECENT SCULPTURE

One of the world’s preeminent contemporary sculptors, Pablo Atchugarryreturns to New Orleans this October for his second solo show at GalleryBienvenu. Atchugarry, winner of the 2002 Michelangelo Prize, will exhibitabstract marble sculptures that range from medium- to large-scale, each workconveying his signature integration of delicacy, dynamism, and compositionaldrama. Since 1979 the artist’s primary medium has been marble from the illustrious quarries of Carrara, a conscious nod to the historical legacies ofClassical, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture. “The material itself brings a lot of cultural baggage with it,” he told an interviewer in 2006. “It’s a great challenge for a contemporary artist to impose his personal expression anddesign on such a historical material.”

Predominantly vertical, Atchugarry’s works communicate aspiration andascension in a way that recalls Constantine Brancusi’s masterpiece, Bird inSpace. They are by turns playful, elegant, and majestic, their origami-likeshapes and nested planes conveying a sense of lightness and movement,rhythm and visual counterpoint. Diagonal motifs counterbalance the verticalthrust, suggesting biomorphic forms undergirded by architectonic structure.

Born in Uruguay, the artist has for many years lived in Lecco, Italy, site of amuseum permanently exhibiting his works and archives. His work appears insome of the world’s most celebrated collections. During the course of a brilliant career he has been awarded prestigious public commissions anddesigned monumental pieces, the largest of which stands 26 feet tall andweighs in excess of 33 tons. One of his most affecting sculptures, Ideali,commemorated the 50th year of the late Prince Rainier III’s reign over thePrincipality of Monaco. In 2003 he exhibited in the Venice Biennale, followedin 2005 by an exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires. In 2006 he was the subject of a major retrospective at the Groningen Museumin Bruges, Belgium.

“My images,” he reflects, “are a search for the possibility of living in harmonywith each other and with nature, in which contrasts and contradictions shouldbe cherished.” These contrasts manifest in the sculptures in a duet betweenthick and lithe contours, between liquidic sheen on broad surfaces and scissor-sharp shadowplay on wafer-thin slices. At the intersection of simplicity andcomplexity, primordial and futuristic, Atchugarry’s work speaks in ecstatic visualpoetry of uplift, optimism, and beauty.

Richard Speer

Exhibition Dates: October 1st – November 20th, 2010

Reception: October 2nd 6 – 9 pm

Front Cover: Untitled IX Statuary Carrara marble 30 1⁄2" x 11" x 9 1⁄2", 2010

Untitled XI Pink Portugal marble 24" x 8" x 8 1⁄2", 2010

Untitled XVII Statuary Carrara marble 57" x 12" x 6", 2010

Untitled XII Grey Bardiglio marble 23 1⁄2" x 7" x 6", 2010

Untitled XV Statuary Carrara marble 39" x 8" x 8", 2010

Untitled XVI Statuary Carrara marble 51" x 9" x 6", 2010

518 julia street, new orleans, la 70130

504.525.0518 www.gallerybienvenu.com

Untitled X Pink Iran marble 30" x 19" x 10"

ARTWORK © PABLO ATCHUGARRY 2010CATALOG © GALLERY BIENVENU 2010