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Abraham Cruzvillegas
Born of an outrageous and constantly shifting sensibility derived almost entirely from metaphor, Cruzvillegas' stunningly crafted objects undermine all precepts of the "rational" and indeed go as far as to embrace the irrational, the bizarre and in some cases, the absurdly beautiful.Like many young artists working today in Mexico City, whose visions sometimes derive from political unrest, the constant inefficacies of the ruling classes, and seek to countermand these staid ideologies with politically charged and sometimes disturbing works which project a sense of hopelessness, Cruzvillegas focuses his energy on producing intensely realized sculpture pieces that investigate the various "ruptures" both in contemporary art and modern culture. These works are strangely hopeful in their use of humor and play, though they take their cue from metaphor, from the dark underbelly of the human unconscious. While Cruzvillegas' pieces can be said to pronounce themselves politically as well, The sheer force of their physical presence propels them beyond the realm of political art making and into the ever-expanding universe of metaphorical influence. Craftsmanship is very much the backbone of these elegant works, and it is obvious that while embracing a highly formalized approach to art as an ongoing process, Cruzvillegas rejected the "new technologies made available by neighboring capitalistic economies, those spurious nationalistic values that cultural politics attach to craftsmanship". Instead, Cruzvillegas began an investigation into the individual's relationship to craft and tradition as it exists on a human level; he sought to understand the permanence and functionality of objects, their "presence" in the world, in his world, where tradition is a means of accessing and in some cases "translating" the self from a variety of experiences. Cruzvillegas seeks to understand how these objects might be adapted to modern ways of life in a manner that resists the obvious capitalist drive.
Installation Views Thumbnails
Selected Works Thumbnails
The Inverse Problem, 2004
Vihuela guitar, steel, plastic
42 x 15 x 4 in (106.7 x 38.1 x 10.2 cm)
Namazu, 2004
Bronze, marble, machetes, iron and isolating tape
24 x 12 x 8 in (61.0 x 30.5 x 20.3 cm)
Widespread Deformation, 2004
Wood, steel, painted maracas and drumsticks
60 x 60 x 41 in (152.4 x 152.4 x 104.1 cm)
El Niño, 2004
Paper, wood, cardboard, cord
24 x 34 x 31 in (61.0 x 86.4 x 78.7 cm)
Chang Heng's Machine, 2004
Tricycle, wood and iron wire
52 x 76 x 32 in (132.1 x 193.0 x 81.3 cm)
Cascadia Subduction, 2004
Wood and tennis rackets
The Source of Loma Prieta, 2004
Steel, car coolant, iron and antimonium
Saint Andreas Fault, 2004
Wood, leather and cotton
Culver City, California 90232
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