Political Fold
MIAMI, FL—Mindy Solomon Gallery presents Geandy Pavón: Political Fold exploring the deconstruction of literary realism and rational thought. The gallery is located at 8397 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, in Little River. An opening reception with the artists will take place Saturday, May 28th, from 7-9pm.
Curator Mindy Solomon states: “I woke up last night after two seemingly prophetic dreams. In the first, I was called to the phone because of the impending death of a family member; and in the second, I was impossibly stalled getting to my critical destination, which in turn caused me to be late for one of the most important events of my life. The stagnancy of time and the thick, almost soupy like feel of the atmosphere in which I found myself pushing through, left me feeling bereft and sullen upon actual waking. The lingering memory of the dreams hang on me even now, several hours into a reasonably productive day. No doubt, current life circumstance is playing havoc on my subconscious, and the subsequent transferal of nervous energy, which has informed my every task. Artists also transform the sacred to the profane, moving dream and story through complex neural circuitry until the ideas find a tangible surface to be displayed upon. Does this purging of visions lesson the psychological burden of these memories and experiences? Artists Geandy Pavón and José Manuel Mesías, bend and twist imagery in ways that become extrapolated manifestations of realty and historic memory.”
Geandy Pavón describes his newest body of work, Political Fold as follows:
“In my opinion, the effectiveness of an image is inscribed in its potential as a ruin. I am interested in revealing the conceptual strength of an image by turning it into a ruin. I have found, in the classic media of painting, the most effective way to perpetuate this moment.
“Recently, I have developed a series of works in which I use archival photographic material which I wrinkle, cut, or fold to be used as a model for my paintings. The subject portrayed in each photograph allows me to travel from one genre to another, such as landscapes or portraits, but always conceived from the perspective of a still life painter.”
Pavón de-mythologizes symbols of history, capitalism, and government as a means of drawing the viewer into deeper narrative introspection.
About Geandy Pavón
Geandy Pavón is a Cuban-American painter and photographer born in 1974. He graduated from the National School of Fine Arts (ENA) in Havana, Cuba, also studying at the School of Fine Arts El Cucalambé, in Las Tunas, Cuba. Pavón has lived and worked in the New York metro area since 1996.
Interested in the “conceptual aura” of ruins and decay, and in everyday practices of power display, Pavón has explored these issues in his Empire and Wrinkle Portraits series. His latest work gained him critical acclaim, including New York Times critic Holland Cutter. In his work, Pavón also engages issues such as iconoclasm, totalitarianism, and ideology. Nemesis (2010-2012), one of his best-known works, consisted of guerrilla projections of photographs of renowned dissidents and political prisoners on the facades of the embassies and consulates (specifically, those representing their country of origin for prisoners in the US and Europe). Pavón’s work has been featured in individual and collective exhibitions such as Caribbean: crossroads of the world at Harlem Studio Museum and X Files Biennale at El Museo del Barrio. His work can be found in private and public collections in Mexico, Cuba, and the United States.
