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 Vol. 141 October 21, 2013, Reviews  Jordi Alcaraz: Altered States at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts By Shana Nys Dambrot In her review, writer Shana Nys Dambrot finds that "what the works share across the many iterations and variations on the artist’s stylistic language is a diligent return to the topic of sight, to the activity of seeing -- and this not purely as an optical engagement, but also as a cerebral one." |
I like, for no reason, to wander along the walls of past eras, and from my dark countenance, under a laurel tree or beside a Tuscan font, with evening on the way, conjure sieges and old battles. |
| Those lines were stumbled across in the processing of wondering to what degree Jordi Alcaraz’s Catalan birth was important in the development of his visual style. Though minimalist by the standards of Spanish Surrealism, the clever ways in which Alcaraz constructs quasi-narrative optical experiences that subvert audience expectations seems rooted in the same subconscious soil as his more flamboyant compatriots like Dali, Buñuel, and Tàpies. The answer is, to a large degree. But Alcaraz’s modern day approach evolves the Surrealist impulse, adapting it through an abstract lens for the current post-expressionism, post-materialism art world discourse. There are myriad ways in which Alcaraz combines, recombines, masks, reveals, assembles, and abuses his materials (paint, drypoint, paper, plexiglas, wood, cardboard, glass, wire, mirrors, stones, books, fabric, gold leaf, plaster, steel clamps) in works large, small, imposing, intimate, and installation-based. Some of the most affecting works are small-scale, painterly, delicate black-and-white compositions that are gestural and immediate. Other powerful pieces include elements of broken glass, thrown stones, inky footprints, and holes bored through the gallery walls. The most iconic works -- that is to say, the works which never fail to surprise and delight audiences -- still involve the warping of blown glass in such a way as to cast shadows which do the work of line-drawing in sprawling compositions. Newer to the lexicon are both a number of purely sculptural works whose added dimensionality enhances the effects of the pictorial elements and the poetic repurposing of industrial materials. Also, several newer works which flirt with depicting the figure, whether by being called self-portraits or by using titles to assign a story to the fleeting bodies. The tease of information heightens rather than slakes the viewer’s curiosity as to how the “images” are produced; it gives them permission to play the game of Rorschach that was already underway in their minds. |
 "IDEAS WITH PAINTINGS IN TOW," 2013 |
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What all the works share across the many iterations and variations on the artist’s stylistic language is a diligent return to the topic of sight, to the activity of seeing -- and this not purely as an optical engagement, but also as a cerebral one. The careful way in which the element of surprise is built into every piece is calibrated to draw the viewer’s attention both to the involuntary reflexes and other physical processes involved in making and perceiving, but also to the related mechanisms of the search for resolution and meaning in the content of what is being perceived. Alcaraz’s genius lies in his ability to address both of these complex dynamics in singular works. There may not be melting clocks or floating crosses in his earth-toned, abstract surrealism, but Alcaraz upends expectations and interrupts comfort zones, bringing the subconscious desires of the viewer into the equation, in a way that would make Dali proud. Jordi Alcaraz: Altered States is on view through December 21 at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts |
 "THIEVES OF DRAWINGS (I)," 2010 |