Surpik Angelini and the Transart Foundation for Art and Anthropology in Houston, Texas, are delighted to present Looking for a Hero, or, Whips, Whims, and Wigs, and Gio Ponti is Just an Excuse, a solo exhibition by Gerardo Rosales.
Artist Statement
For most of my artistic career I have been interested in developing a dialogue about social injustices. Through my art I explore issues of gender, class, race, power dynamics, violence, immigration and post colonialism.
The artworks I produce illustrate and reflect on these social issues that I have experienced personally and as an observer. My idea is to mix aggression with playfulness and to contrast the decorative and the innocent with brutality to reveal the severity of my subject matter. I attempt to show social inequalities by exaggerating reality with irony.
My work is multidisciplinary and my source of reference comes from everyday objects such as wallpaper, wrapping paper, children’s books, the imagery of cartoon drawings, toy models and piñatas. I like the ornamental aspects of these items, the richness of patterns, and the use of flat colors and shapes.
In 2019 my art show Looking for a Hero or Whips, Whims and Wigs and Gio Ponti is just an Excuse will open a dialogue about problems related to domestic labor and immigration. The focus of investigation is centered around my memories while growing up in Venezuela. However, as an adult and living in the USA for 19 years has allowed me to see that this problem exists here and worldwide. Through this body of work, I infiltrate these issues of social inequalities by appropriating the ornamental aspects associated with folk art and geometric abstraction.
HOURS
Open Fridays, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., through the end of May, 2019; or by appointment. Please call (832) 397-9252.
DOWNLOADS AND LINKS
Looking for a Hero Catalog (PDF)
Houston’s Spring of LatinX Art | By Laura August | Arts and Culture Texas | March 15, 2019
Top Five by Glasstire | By Christina Rees and William Sarradet | April 11, 2019
Biography
Gerardo Rosales
Gerardo Rosales is a Venezuelan visual artist and educator who has been living and working in Houston, Texas, for 20 years. Rosales first started producing art as a self-taught artist, before attending the Armando Reverón Art Institute in Caracas, Venezuela, where he earned a B.A. in Fine Art. After graduating, he moved to London to study at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, where he obtained an M.A. in Fine Art.
During his studies, Rosales became more resourceful with the use of mixed media and began producing more socially conscious work. The themes present in his work confront the viewer with a disarming contrast between the use of pattern and ornamentation (normally associated with decorative objects of everyday life) and images related to issues of violence, repression, sexuality, abuse of power and loneliness.
Rosales has exhibited his work in the U.S. and internationally, including at ArteBA in Buenos Aires, ArtBO in Bogota, and Pinta in New York. The artist is represented, in Venezuela, by Gallery Carmen Araujo Arte. Rosales is currently the artist-in-residence at The Transart Foundation for Art and Anthropology in Houston, and was recently awarded the 2019 Support for Artists and Creative Individual Grant from the City of Houston, through the Houston Arts Alliance.
www.gerardorosales.net