{"id":8851,"date":"2012-04-02T10:11:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T14:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=8851"},"modified":"2012-11-30T14:16:10","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T19:16:10","slug":"unframed-honesty-rodrigo-echeverria-noriega-at-oz-studios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=8851","title":{"rendered":"Unframed Honesty \/ Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega at Oz Studios"},"content":{"rendered":"

OZ STUDIOS<\/strong> (134 Ossington Avenue)
\nJanuary 9 – 23,\u00a02012<\/p>\n

Oz Studios is an inconspicuous, small gallery space on Ossington Avenue. This quaint little space is just enough to host the solo show by Mexican artist Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega. Conservative Honours<\/em>, the artist\u2019s Canadian debut, uses a variety of media to depict a village that draws from imagery of the artist\u2019s native country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Installation view of Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega: Conservative Honours<\/em> at Oz Studios, 2012. Courtesy of the artist.<\/p>\n

Upon entering the gallery, you will notice Noriega\u2019s clever touches all over the place\u2014from the walls to the floors to the windows\u2014engaging the whole space for a total aesthetic experience. I was particularly delighted by a red stripe that runs along the walls of the gallery. \u201cI\u2019ve installed a red bulb at the entrance,\u201d Noriega happily explained, \u201cso that when people walk in, they have red on their minds. Then they see the red stripe and they unconsciously recognize it, and feel welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega, Reclining Woman, 2011. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.<\/p>\n

Noriega\u2019s earthy paintings depict traditional Mexican imagery of figures and landscapes. Yet, the close embrace of a man and a woman in Redemption<\/em> is evocative of Klimt\u2019s Kiss<\/em> (1907-08), and Reclining Woman<\/em> seems to be in keeping with the long tradition of the reclining nude that goes all the way back to Giorgione.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega, Redemption (A man and a woman hugging), 2011. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

When I observed that some of his paintings evoke references from art history, Noriega nodded thoughtfully. Although he didn\u2019t necessarily create his paintings based on those works, he does acknowledge the influence. \u201cI value the tradition in art history and learn from the Masters. They\u2019re the ones who got it right, you know? I take the tradition, and make something of my own, something modern and avant-garde,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even as his paintings invite nostalgia and contemplation, Noriega does not forgo his creative gestures. In between the paintings are bright orange pipes containing flowers. While they seem wonderfully quirky, Noriega said these flowers are for honouring the paintings, one adjacent to the other. Or, they could also be referencing the notorious Piranha Plant as seen in the Super Mario<\/em> video games. \u201cIn that case, they\u2019d take on a much more dangerous role,\u201d added Noriega with a grin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Installation view of Rodrigo Echeverria Noriega: Conservative Honours at Oz Studios, 13-23 January, 2012. Courtesy of the artist.<\/p>\n

Noriega likes to experiment, as evident in the exhibit. \u201cMy primary focus is always painting, first and foremost,\u201d he declared; but his art is undoubtedly informed by his forays into different mediums. The media he experiments with are not the end game, but a means to an end\u2014which always comes back to painting.<\/p>\n

Loyal to his work, Noriega intends the paintings to be seen with \u201cunframed honesty.\u201d Instead of frames, the canvases are visually enclosed by strips of yellow he painted on the wall. He prefers that the paintings interact freely with the surface of the wall, and that the viewers experience the works in their bare form. \u201cI don\u2019t want my paintings to pretend,\u201d explained Noriega. \u201cI don\u2019t want them hiding behind a fancy frame, or big stuffy conceptualism. My paintings are honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that is precisely what I liked about Conservative Honours<\/em>. Noriega\u2019s paintings are delightfully down-to-earth and exude warmth. They are a welcome relief from the January blues.<\/p>\n

By Seowon Bang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Seowon Bang<\/strong><\/p>\n

OZ STUDIOS<\/strong>
\nJanuary 9 –23, 2012<\/p>\n

Noriega’s Canadian debut uses a variety of mediums to depict a village that draws from imagery of the artist\u2019s native country<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-seowon-bang"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8851"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16771,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8851\/revisions\/16771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}