Solo Exhibition “The Dream” by Jorge Rivera
Opening: Fri 16 Oct 2015, 6 pm
Exhibition: 16 Oct – 13 Nov 2015
Art Vietnam Gallery
From Art Vietnam Gallery:
Art Vietnam Gallery is happy to announce our first exhibition of the autumn season of 2015 with the works of the Spanish sculptor Jorge Rivera, entitled “The Dream”, a reference to the Honda Dream motorbike that was the quintessential luxury of the early 1990’s. This exhibition is the merging of three cultures, Spain, Vietnam and Japan that reflects the cooperation of our 3 neighbors at the 24 Ly Quoc Su art zone with the Vietnamese LACA art café, Japan’s Pizza 4P’s and the Spanish designer Diego of Chula. We are happy to invite you to this celebration of the international side of life and art.
Opening reception is Friday October 16 at 6pm.
Jorge Rivera, Spanish sculptor residing in London and Taiwan, Ph.D graduate of Sculpture from the prestigious Royal College of Art in London, discovered the marvels of local marble while traveling in Central Vietnam two years ago and has spent months creating his latest body of innovative sculptures for his upcoming solo exhibition at Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi.
The title recalls the Honda Dream motorbike, the quintessential symbol of luxury and prestige in the early 1990’s, as the trigger for the fantasies and dreams of the Vietnamese people. Fascinated with the relationship the Vietnamese have with their motorbikes since they are young, to how much of their everyday lives spins around these old machines, how they literally sleep, eat and live on them, the artist expands on this intimate accord.
The artist states: “‘The Dream’ is my personal attempt to portray the spirit, the essence and the strength of the Vietnamese character. My intention is to get close to who the Vietnamese are as human beings, their dreams, identity and aspirations, using the intimate relationship they have with their motorbike as the tool to explore and expand on their persona.”
The show consists of a total of nine marble pieces, a short video projection, three large paintings in silk and a selection of sketches, collages and storyboards of the pieces and the film. The sculptures are variations and extrapolations of different parts of motorbikes. The sculptures work as a dismembered part of a larger body. The body of the Honda Dream, the parts are somehow different stages of dreaming. The parts made in marble aim to emphasize not only the obvious physical dimension with those parts but also the more unconscious, emotional and spiritual content hinted in the material of the white marble, burnt wood or stone. The titles of the pieces and the stands are abstractions of mythological motives constantly active in the Vietnamese heritage, traditional art and craftsmanship.
The film intercuts footage of the making of the marble pieces (a moon-like scape of the workshop covered in white dust) with footage that the artist has gathered from his motorbike journeys throughout the country with some references to the mythological animals and elements staged in popular celebrations such as the lion or the dragon dance.
The large paintings on silk portray the body of the motorcyclist without the actual motorbike. The bodies painted on translucent silk are like ghosts or dreamy images floating and being driven in the space by a non existent vehicle.
Rivera has exhibited widely internationally and has participated in artist in residency programs recently in Taiwan, Tokyo and Berlin. His works are in the public collections of Sotheby’s and the Royal College of Art, London, Takumy Museum, Japan, Stanford University, San Francisco, Fundacion Barrie de La Maza, A Coruna, and Fundacion Luis Seoane, A Coruna and in private collections.
| | Art Vietnam Gallery 24 Ly Quoc Su (2nd Floor), Hanoi Open Monday-Saturday 10am – 6pm Tel: +84-4-3928 5190 Email: [email protected] Website: www.artvietnamgallery.com |
