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Artwork
#animals
#ceramics
#clay
#George Rodriguez
#Mexico
#sculpture
“El Chapulin.” All pictures © George Rodriguez, shared with permission
Antennae spring from the crown of a grasshopper, and an alert expression characterizes a cacomixtle’s beady eyes in George Rodriguez’s vibrant portraits of Mexican fauna. In his ongoing Mexican Zodiac collection, the artist takes inspiration from the Nice Race fable and the start of the Chinese language zodiac. “I wished to proceed to discover themes of safety, inclusion, and sanctity utilizing the Chinese language zodiac as a framework,” he tells Colossal. “I used to be additionally impressed by Ai Weiwei’s ‘Circle of Animals’ sculpture recreating the 12 animal heads of the Previous Summer season Palace in Beijing.”
Rodriguez initially made the entire Chinese language zodiac animals in homage to the unique tales, then landed on the thought of bringing the narrative nearer to his own residence and making a parallel Mexican model. “As an alternative of the Yr of the Rat, it will be el Año del Chapulín (grasshopper),” he says. “As an alternative of Yr of the Tiger, it will be el Año del Jaguar. I’ve enjoyable translating the totally different animal traits into animals that may be present in and round Mexico.”
“El Cacomixtle”
Mexican Zodiac has taken quite a few varieties, together with a sprigging type—a form of low reduction ornament—that Rodriguez employs in a lot of his work, adopted by a model brightly coloured like Alebrijes, a method of small, vibrant picket animals historically made in Oaxaca. The artist completed a 3rd model in a metallic glaze that mirrored Ai’s originals, a fourth utilized a method of illustrated pottery often known as Talavera, and the newest concerned collaborating with 13 different artists for a undertaking titled El Zodiaco Acquainted. Rodriguez has additionally translated animals of the lunar calendar right into a collection referred to as Lunar Vessels, a few of that are additionally proven beneath.
An exhibition of the artist’s work opens at West Virginia College’s Paul Mesaros Gallery on August 24, and one other solo present opens in Denver at Visions West Modern on November 9. El Zodiaco Acquainted is at the moment on view at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens by September 10, and you could find extra on the artist’s web site and Instagram.
“Toro.” Collaboration with Marilyn Montufar
“El Venado”
“Venado Azul.” Collaboration with Carolina Jimenez
“La Cabra”
‘Lunar Vessels’
“La Iguana”
“Ox”
“Ram”
Left to proper: “Snake,” “Dragon,” and “Rooster”
“El Quetzalcoatl”
#animals
#ceramics
#clay
#George Rodriguez
#Mexico
#sculpture
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