RAÚL DÍAZ REYES - PONCE+ROBLESDe la producción del diseñador gráfico norteamericano Saul Bass,...

RAÚL DÍAZ REYES

Raúl Díaz Reyes ha expuesto y recibido importantes becas internacionales en España, Alemania, Estados Unidos, Rusia y Brasil, siendo en este país donde ha desarrollado su creación en los últimos años. Actualmente le representan galerías en Madrid, São Paulo y Moscú.

Las obras de Raúl Díaz Reyes rompen las fronteras disciplinarias haciéndonos entrar en una contemporaneidad rotunda en la cual los lenguajes se alejan de la convención y nos invitan a conformar una mirada panorámica de los entornos. La unión que establece con la arquitectura, así como la mezcla de materiales, nos habla de las ciudades en relación con sus habitantes como sistemas dinámicos en movimiento y alteración constante. De este modo no hay límites dimensionales, no hay leyes técnicas: la fotografía se contempla como escultura, la pintura se adentra en ella. Los frutos de interacción y cambio cuestionan los modelos expositivos, alterando códigos y dando lugar a nuevos paisajes de posibilidades múltiples.

RAÚL DÍAZ REYES(1977, Madrid, España)

Raúl Díaz Reyes has exhibited and received important international scholarships in Spain, Germany, the United States, Rusia and Brazil, being in this country where has developed its creation in recent years. Currently, he is represented by galleries in Madrid, São Paulo and Moscow.

Raúl Díaz Resyes’ work breaks the frontiers between disciplines, taking us into a decisive contemporaneity, in which all languages drift away from the standard and invite us to knock into shape a panoramic look of our surroundings. The union that is established with architecture, and the mash-up of materials, talks to us about cities in relationship with their inhabitants as dynamic systems in constant movement and alteration. This way, there are no dimensional limits, no technical laws: the photograph is contemplated as a sculpture, and the painting gets into it. The results of this reflection on the city as a place for interaction and change question exhibition models, alters codes, and generate new landscapes with multiple possibilities.

VOCABULARY FOR SETTLING VERTIGOS

Galería Raquel Arnaud São Paulo, Brasil

2019

El color de las Vocales

“J’inventai la couleur des voyelles! - A noir, E blanc, I rouge, O bleu, U vert. Je réglai la forme et le mouvement de chaque consonne, et, avec des rythmes instinctifs, je me flattai d’inventer un verbe poétique accessible, un jour ou l’autre, à tous les sens. Je réservais la traduction. Ce fut d’abord une étude. J’écrivais des silences, des nuits, je notais l’inexprimable. Je fixais des vertiges.

Arthur Rimbaud

Raúl Díaz Reyes cubre las cuatro paredes de la sala expositiva con un alfabeto de colores y formas. En su segunda individual en Sao Paulo, el artista español distri-buye por el espacio pequeños elementos bidimensionales de metacrilato. En su mayoría geométricas, las piezas azules, negras y rojas no son letras propiamente dichas. Nacen del encuentro de formas puras, triángulos, círculos y cuadrados, en un proceso de adición, recorte y sustracción que da origen a nuevas configu-raciones. Otras son más espontaneas y gestuales. Juntas, constituyen un vocabu-lario de signos que, por momentos, remiten a dibujos conocidos y rápidamente identificables, cercanos a los iconos y logos, al universo urbano y a la publicidad.

Acompañadas de sus supuestas “matrices”, a primera vista parece que las piezas acabaron de conquistar su libertad, aún de un modo tímido y lento. Las matrices — planchas de metacrilato recortado, enmarcado y sostenidas por estructuras rectangulares de hierro pintado — nos recuerdan a aquellas reglas huecas con tipologías de formas sencillas, con las cuales es posible hacer bocetos de arbo-les, aviones o hasta olas del mar. Recuerdan también, las reglas de los arquitec-tos, utilizadas para construir dibujos técnicos, menos lúdicos, que responden a la funcionalidad y lógica de la prefabricación. Sin embargo, contradiciendo a la primera impresión, las figuras sueltas y más pequeñas no encajan en los vacíos de las matrices, lo que indica que en realidad las piezas más grandes no funcio-naron como matrices de producción. Esta desconexión es la primera señal, o la primera pista, de la ruptura de un orden y de la entropía sugerida por el artista.

Cortadas con láser, las piezas de metacrilato aluden a la producción industrial.

Vocabulary for settling vertigos

Sus bordes son afilados, su material es frio y la superficie, delicada. El trabajo manual parece distante. Sin embargo, está claro el dialogo con la experimenta-ción de las vanguardias históricas, con la abstracción geométrica, con el cons-tructivismo, con el concretismo y el neoconcretismo. Como el poema tipográfico de Mallarmé, “Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard” (1897) , que exploró las posibilidades de la tecnología de impresión y del vacío de la página, las pie-zas de Raúl utilizan la pared como una hoja en blanco. Las figuras recortadas se adhieren a la arquitectura y definen el ritmo de lectura y las pausas de la obra. Agrupadas libremente, las piezas establecen entre sí juegos de equilibrio de pe-sos que escapan de una regla fija, a un solo patrón o grid. El conjunto posee mo-vimiento y traza en el espacio una partitura realizada con una notación musical alternativa, un poema visual o un paisaje. No parece fácil descifrar su significado o sus leyes de construcción. La lectura de la instalación transita entre lo visual, lo coreográfico, lo arquitectónico y, a pesar del silencio, lo sonoro.

En un texto de 1965, “Between Poetry And Painting” , el monje benedictino y poeta visual Dom Sylvester Houédard utiliza los términos “logos” e “íconos” para referirse de un modo más amplio a la “palabra” y a la “pintura”. Al construir una cronología histórica de las relaciones entre los dos conceptos, desde los artefac-tos primitivos hasta los años 1960, el monje propone términos como “casi-pin-tura”, “casi-palabra”, o incluso “casi-letra”. Con el uso de esta terminología para designar propuestas abiertas y en permanente redefinición, Dom Sylvester abala la naturaleza y la existencia de las “palabras” y de la “pintura” como materiales impermeables, proponiendo zonas de circulación libre y la no-separación entre texto e imagen, entre poesía y pintura, entre “logos” e “íconos”3.

Las piezas de Raúl se encuentran en este terreno, “entre”. Son casi-pinturas, ca-si-palabras, o casi-letras que sintetizan y materializan signos presentes en la cul-tura visual contemporánea, en la señalética de las ciudades y en la historia del arte. En esta obra, se cruzan referencias o contaminaciones sin citas explícitas y específicas de distintas épocas y procedencias. De la producción del diseñador gráfico norteamericano Saul Bass, famoso por los créditos iniciales de películas como “Vértigo”, de Alfred Hitchcock a la coreografía geométrica del “Ballet Triá-dico” de Oskar Schlemmer, del inicio del siglo XX.

Algunos de los elementos de la instalación inclusive recuerdan a la iconogra-fía totémica de Rubem Valentim, que a partir de los años 1950 se apropia del lenguaje de la abstracción geométrica para construir complejas composiciones que rediseñan y reconfiguran símbolos, emblemas y referencias afro-atlánticas. Finalmente, es fundamental referirse a Lygia Pape y su Ballet Neoconcreto, con-cebido en 1958 en colaboración con el poeta Reynaldo Jardim, y, principalmente, a la trilogía de libros que la artista produjo al final de los años cincuenta e inicio de los años sesenta, el Livro da Criação, Livro da Arquitetura y Livro do Tempo.

Lygia transcendió el distanciamiento formal del concretismo, iluminando la dimensión social del arte y sugiriendo la interacción entre arte y público. Raúl también cuestiona ordenes preestablecidos y propone procesos de re-articula-ción, reconfiguración y metamorfosis, que ocurren en frente del espectador. Así como Rimbaud, inventa un vocabulario propio para fijar vértigos.

Isabella Lenzi

[1] Rimbaud, Arthur. “Une saison en enfer. Délires II. Alchimie du verbe,” 1873.[2] In English: “A throw the dice will never abolish chance.”[3] Houédard, Dom Sylvester. Between Poetry and Painting. London, ICA – Insti-tute of Contemporary Art, 1965.[4] I am grateful to Tomás Cunha Ferreira for the bibliographical reference and for his ideas about the text.

The Color of the Vowels

“I invented colours for the vowels! A black, E white, I red, O blue, U green. I made rules for the form and movement of every consonant, and I boasted of inventing, with rhythms from within me, a kind of poetry that all the senses, sooner or later, would recognize. And I alone would be its translator. I began it as an inves-tigation. I turned silences and nights into words. What was unutterable, I wrote down. I made the whirling world stand still.”

Arthur Rimbaud[1]

Raúl Díaz Reyes fills the four walls of the exhibition room with an alphabet of colors and shapes. In his second solo show in São Paulo, the Spanish artist sca-tters small bidimensional acrylic elements throughout the space. The largely geometric blue, black and red pieces are not letters strictly speaking. They are born from the encounter of pure shapes – triangles, circles and squares – in a process of addition, cutout and subtraction that gives rise to new configurations. Others of them are more spontaneous and gestural. All together, they constitute a vocabulary of signs which, sometimes, refer to known and quickly identifiable patterns, akin to icons and logos, to the urban world and advertising.

Accompanied by their supposed “molds,” at first sight it seems that the pieces have just now become free, though still shyly and taking their time. The molds – acrylic sheets with shapes cut out of them, framed and held up by rectangular structures of painted iron – resemble those plastic stencil rulers with simple, ge-neric shapes to aid in the sketching of trees, airplanes or even ocean waves. They also recall architect’s rulers, used to construct less playful technical drawings, which serve for a functional purpose and a logic of prefabrication. However, con-trary to one’s first impression, the loose figures that have been cut out of them not fit in the empty places of the molds, indicating that in reality the larger pie-ces did not serve as matrices for their production. This disconnection is the first sign, or the first clue, of the breaking of an order and of the entropy suggested by the artist.

Cut with a laser, the acrylic elements allude to industrial production. Their edges are sharp, their material is cold, and their surface, delicate. They seem distant from manual work. Even so, they clearly dialogue with the experimentation of the historic avant-gardes, with geometric abstraction, with constructivism, with concretism and neoconcretism. Like the typographic poem of Mallarmé, Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard (1897),[2] which explored the possibilities of the technology of printing and of the empty space on the page, the pieces by Raúl use the wall like a blank sheet of paper. The cutout figures are stuck to the architecture and define the rhythm of the reading and the pauses of the artwork. Freely grouped, the pieces establish among themselves interplays of weights that defy any fixed rule, any single pattern or grid. The set possesses movement and draws within the space a musical score made with an alternative notation, a visual form or a landscape. It does not appear easy to decipher their meaning or the laws of their construction. The reading of the installation transits between the visual, the choreographic, the architectural and, despite the silence, the so-norous.

In a 1965 text, Between Poetry and Painting,”[3] the Benedictine monk and vi-sual poet Dom Sylvester Houédard uses the terms “logos” and “icon” to refer to a broader world than “word” and “painting.” By constructing a historical chro-nology of the relations between the two concepts, spanning from the primiti-ve artifacts up to the 1960s, the monk proposes terms such as “quasi-painting,” “quasi-word” or even “quasi-letter.” With the use of this terminology to designate open proposals in permanent redefinition, Dom Sylvester shakes the nature and existence of “words” and the “painting” as isolated materials, proposing zones of free circulation and nonseparation between text and image, between poetry and painting, between “logos” and “icons.”[4]

Raúl’s pieces lie in this “between” realm. They are quasi-paintings, quasi-words or quasi-letters that synthesize and materialize signs present in contemporary visual culture, in the signage of cities and in the history of art. In this work, refe-rences or cross-influences are intercrossed without explicit and specific citations from different times and provenances. From the production of North American filmmaker and graphic designer Saul Bass, famous for the opening sequences of films such as Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock, to the geometric choreography of Os-

kar Schlemmer’s Triadic Ballet, from the beginning of the 20th century.

Some of the elements of the installation also recall the totemic iconography of Rubem Valentim, who from the 1950s onwards resorted to the language of geo-metric abstraction to construct complex compositions that redesign and reconfi-gure Afro-Atlantic symbols, emblems and references. Lastly, it is fundamental to refer to Lygia Pape, to her Ballet Neoconcreto, conceived in 1958 in partnership with poet Reynaldo Jardim, and, mainly, to the trilogy of books that the artist produced at the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s, Livro da Criação, Livro da Arquitetura and Livro do Tempo.

Lygia transcended the formal distancing of concretism, calling attention to the social dimension of art and suggesting the interaction between art and the pu-blic. Raúl also questions preestablished orders and proposes processes of rear-ticulation, reconfiguration and metamorphosis that take place in the presence of the spectator. Just like Rimbaud, he invents a vocabulary all his own to settle vertigos.

Isabella Lenzi

[1] Rimbaud, Arthur. “Une saison en enfer. Délires II. Alchimie du verbe,” 1873.[2] In English: “A throw the dice will never abolish chance.”[3] Houédard, Dom Sylvester. Between Poetry and Painting. London, ICA – Insti-tute of Contemporary Art, 1965.[4] I am grateful to Tomás Cunha Ferreira for the bibliographical reference and for his ideas about the text.

Vista general de la Galería Raquel Arnaud. Exposición Vocabulary for settling vértigos. Raúl Díaz ReyesOverview from Raquel Arnaud Gallery. Exhibition Vocabulary for settling vértigos. Raúl Díaz Reyes

DAPPLE AND DAZZLE

Galería Osnova Moscú, Rusia

2019

El significado etimológico de la palabra «Dapple» es «diferente en color». Por lo tanto, debemos concentrarnos en la dialéctica del trabajo visual infinito. Lo que hace de rucio un rucio no es un rucio en sí, pero es la distinción de lo que lo rodea. Desde este punto de vista, el gesto artístico sólo existe como resultado de la existencia de otros gestos artísticos o viceversa debido a su ausencia. Dazzle, representado en una de las obras, es etimológicamente dual: proviene de la palabra «cambiar», y es el cambio de percepción que hace deslumbrar. Obras de Collin Penno y Raúl Díaz Reyes, presentados en la exposición, continúan esta dialéctica constante, incorporándola a la dialéctica de la exploración espacial, que a su vez crea la tercera ronda de diálogo entre dos dualidades: la forma y el espacio.

Esta búsqueda interminable de las relaciones entre el color, la forma, el espacio y el sujeto, que ocurren al borde de o dentro de la obra, parecen apoyar plenamente la idea fundamental de la «diferencia» formulada por el filósofo francés Jacques Derrida: todo lo que existe es siempre descentralizado en comparación con sí mismo y, por lo tanto, en su mayoría no puede ser expresado con signos. Sistema de signos, visual, en este caso, es entendido por Derrida como «bundle», enredos de sentimientos o líneas de poder, buscando constantemente el equilibrio entre la línea y su propia dimensión. La distinción de elementos resulta ser el discurso de la potencia, que encuentra su personal, más cercano a la realidad, lo que significa en la disimilitud de sus Estados, siendo constantemente descubierta y dibujada más cerca y numerosamente las veces en el zoom.

La energía de la contradicción en la obra de Collin Penno, que podría ocurrir en comparación entre la forma tridimensional y la “formulación” colorida, se llena con el significado más cierto de la palabra «diferencia». El sonido interminable se produce a partir de esta contradicción. De hecho, Penno no quiere y no busca la armonización de los fundamentos formales. Lo que parece ser el más difícil, es elegir la percepción de forma complicada o centrarse en amplios conceptos artísticos internos. Las últimas obras de su poder se entenderán como capítulo final del análisis conceptual y experimental a largo plazo de las convenciones representacionales, intermedia y transmedia. Colin Penno inicia las polémicas en el campo de la perspectiva típica y disuelve las fronteras entre los medios y las disciplinas académicas.

Dapple and Dazzle

El Сoncept de la «diferencia» en la obra de Raúl Díaz Reyes puede verse en presencia simultánea de formas visualmente «azuladas» y elementos más definidos, remitiéndonos a la arquitectura postmodernista. Unidad o, para ser más específico, la separación de estos dos elementos, que encuentra el equilibrio en las obras de Reyes, generan superficies dentro de límites de espacio o leyes técnicas: la imagen se observa como una figura, la imagen se convierte en su parte, generando nuevos paisajes con variable oportunidades composicionales. El sistema final de los signos cuenta sobre abstracciones escultóricas, en las que los bordes de la construcción de la forma juegan con mayor tactilidad, debido al uso de varios materiales

Dominico de ChiricoCurador de arte

Etymological meaning of the word «Dapple» is «differing in color». Thus we should focus on the dialectic of the infinite visual work. What makes dapple a dapple is not a dapple itself, but it’s distinction from what surrounds it. From this point of view, art gesture only exists as a result of other art gestures’ existence or vice versa due to its’ absence.Dazzle, represented in one of the works, is etymologically dual: it origins from the word «to change», and it is the changing of perception that makes a dazzle. Works by Collin Penno and Raul Diaz Reyes, presented at the exhibition, continue this constant dialectic, incorporating it with the dialectic of space exploration, which in its turn creates third round of dialog between two dualities: form and space.

This never-ending search of relations between color, form, space and subject, which occur on the verge of or inside the work, seem to fully support the fundamental idea of «difference» formulated by French philosopher Jacques Derrida: everything that exists is always decentralised in comparison with itself and, therefore, mostly cannot be expresses with signs. Sign system, visual, in this case, is understood by Derrida like «bundle», tangle of feelings or power lines, constantly searching for balance between the line and its own dimension. Distinction of elements turns out to be the powerhouse discourse, that finds its personal, closest to reality, meaning in its states’ dissimilarity, being constantly uncovered and drawn nearer and numerously times zoomed on.

The energy of contradiction in Collin Penno’s work, which might occur in comparison between three-dimensional form and colorful «formulation», is filled with most certain meaning of word «difference». The never-ending sound occurs from this contradiction. In fact, Penno does not want and does not look for harmonization of formal grounds. What appears to be the hardest, is to choose either the perception of complicated form or focus on extensive internal artistic concepts. The latest works of his might be understood as final chapter of the longterm conceptual and experimental analysis of representational, intermedia and transmedia conventions. Colin Penno initiates polemics in the field of typical perspective and dissolves borders between media and academic disciplines.

Сoncept of «difference» in the work of Raul Diaz Reyes can be seen in simultaneous

presence of visually «blured» forms and more definite element, referring us to the postmodern architecture. Unity or, to be more specific, separation of these two elements, which finds balance in the works of Reyes, generate surfaces within space limits or technical laws: the image is observed as a figure, the image becomes its part, generating new landscapes with variable compositional opportunities. Final system of signs tells about sculptural abstractions, in which edges of form construction play with bigger tactility, due to usage of various materials.

Dominic de ChiricoArt curator

Dapple and Dazzle, 2019Vista de la exposición. Osnova Gallery.

I’M THE PROBLEM

Atelier FidalgaSão Paulo, Brasil

2016

A week ago, late at night—due to the different time zones we were at the time—I got a message from Raúl asking me if I would write something for his upcoming exhibition in São Paulo. It was late, so I thought about sending him my go-to fuck you meme, but then I thought briefly about our last encounter filled with beers, music and honest laughs and went back to sleep with a smile. After a lengthy discussion on whatsapp about the different possibilities the text could offer (and its limitations) we decided to do causal Q&A via mobile phone. A talk in which subjects could popup freely and were not necessarily related to art or his work. A format that fit Raúl’s work for two reasons: it was flexible and stubborn enough to get along at the same time. And also, it shined a light in some of the themes and images behind his work without being extremely referential.

Memory and heat shouldn’t be mixed lightly. The tropical setting where I type these words has nothing to do with one of my earliest memories of my friendship with Raúl. We were roaming around Madrid, in a modestly enough windy day. Out of the blue he ask me: Are you a Piña Colada lover? I knew the question was a decisive one. One of those moments where incipient friendships come out reinforced or is broken altogether. I wouldn’t call myself a Piña Colada lover, but I am definitely a good friend, a caring friend, I said. He smiled and told me had never actually loved the cocktail, but lately he had been having these crazy dreams about it. We ended up having 4 each that day. One of the best days of my life.

NL: Woody, Larry or George?

Raúl Díaz Reyes: That’s a good first one. Three heroes. I love Woody and I love Larry, but I would choose Mr. Constanza.

NL: If you had to give your worst enemy a superpower, what would it be?

RDR: Oh let me think, I have a big list after enjoying One-punch Man this year. I think you were expecting other kind of answer.

NL: I wasn’t expecting anything. I once sat next to a guy in a plane in a flight from Mexico to Colombia who after drinking a bottle of scotch thought that

the best thing to do next was to steal the purse of a woman who was sleeping, lock himself in the bathroom and steal out all of her money. He threw up when we were landing, and then the police came into the plane and arrested him. Any good airplane stories you might like to share?

RDR: Just a short romance with a blonde flight attendant, it was a Brus-sels – Atlanta 1998. All started when I threw the coffee tray she was holding.

NL: Oh, that is so much better than my story! Moving on. You seem to place a good deal of attention on the silence of the image, I mean, what is hidden or cut or erased holds the same importance than the actual objects/traces being shown. Is that a fair assessment to make?

RDR: You’re totally right. All is about layers and about what I decide to show and what not. At the end, these works that I’m showing here are just the result of adding and removing layers, digitally and analogically. Artists now have the possibility of using a bunch of new media. I try to take advantage of that in order to talk about things that interest me.

NLL: You’ve been in São Paulo 5 times or something like that before, ri-ght? What is for you the appeal of the city?

RDR: Yes this is my fifth trip in Sao Paulo; is always intense for me here. This city helps me know more about myself, At least it works this way for me. It is a special city, maybe in the next trip I’ll stay. This city helps me know more about myself. Itworks at this way for me. It is a special city.

NL: You and me are both big fans of Michael Jackson, you much more than me I would say. Have you realize that almost nobody knows any albums by him, aside from Dangerous and Thriller, me included. I mean he is all about the singles. Doyou happen to know the name of all of his albums?

RDR: Of course, man. You just have to add Off the Wall, Bad, History, In-

vincible and maybe that Blood on the Dancefloor, there are previous and posthu-mous albums that I wouldn’t include in this list. Talking about Michael, the story about the light attendant? Well, during that trip I ended up spending a day in Neverland, Yes, Michael’s house. A mutual friend invited me. I know that you’re very interested in food, so let me share so information: I ate a nice BBQ chicken there.

NL: Are you a cyber-security freak? I mean, do you erase your history and cache’s and use VPN software? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think something about data, identity and corporatestate power. I’ve been also watching Mr. Robot, so that doesn’t help. Are you parte of that club?

RDR: Oh yes I do, you have to be a freak about it! But, hey, Mr. Robot? I hate that show!

NL: In the last 3 years you’ve changed your art practice in a significant way (I wouldn’t call it radical because the ethos of your work is still mostly in-tact, in my opinion). What was the thing, if there is one, or the moment, that made you switch from drawing to sculpture?

RDR: Well, I lived half year in NY in 2013, and there I felt that I was rea-lly tired about my last works, I was not enjoying it. And in the other hand, I was visiting all those amazing shows. I used to have long talks with Max Stolkin, this genuine artist who was my partner at the LMCC residency. Later I started to have long skype chats with my friend Andrea Hill, and we talked a lot about art, about shows. She also helped me too to reboot myself and to take “the job” more pro-fessionally. And more specifically, these Plexiglas pieces are drawings too. Now I feel that I can make anything.

NL: Would you rather: 1) Be in the same room with a cat for a whole day 2) Be in the same room with a dog for a whole day 3) Be in the same room with a hippo for a whole day

RDR: Depend of the cat, if it is a excited one I will chose the hippo.

NL: You always reflect a sense of calm in any given situation. However, is a certain calm I a associate with obsessive heroes like Woody Allen or Larry Da-vid, who eventually explode and blow steam all over the place. Do you also have this little (or big) episodes of fury? And if you do, what bring the pot to a boil?

RDR: I have my temper, and it does pop-ups sometimes, but I’m not like our heroes, my friend.

NL: What song, or type of music, plays on your head when you fall in love?

RDR: During this residency I have listened a lot to Frank Ocean, also Drake (I am still asking myself if I actually like his music) Panda Bear. You know? It’s curious because in Madrid I’m always listening Brazilian music. But you as-ked when I fall in love, right?

NL: Yeah. What about when you are in love? Don’t give me such a Trump answer!

RDR: I was trying to be enigmatic; maybe she’s reading this conversation now. By the way, does a Temer answer exist?

NL: Primeiramente... they come from the same bag of shit. Anyway, are you mainly, and almost always, the problem? I mean, are you prone to blame yourself for everything, even when you can’t control the circumstances?

RDR: Oh yes, that’s me. It’s always my fault but hey, I’m also the solution! I’M THE PROBLEM is also the tittle of the show. For a month I shared the studio in Fidalga with Takashi Kuribayashi.We were setting up our RAID 8 at Raquel Arnaud exhibition show and it was be-ing intense and hectic at the beginning. I remember chating with him on an uber and telling him: I’m the problem, Takashi. Is always me, next show will have thistittle. We chose our own limits and the things we are confronted against with. And let me talk to you about this show, it has been conceived in some way like a experimental exhibition, because I feel that experimental has to be a closely

associated to residency.

NL: Tell me more about the show.

RDR: Well the exhibition ends my residency in São Paulo and I’m showing new works; archival inkjet prints on canvas with adhesive vinyl, and Plexiglas.

NL: Do you dream about specific images? Or sounds?

RDR: I used to dream with falling elevators during my childhood, and sometimes I dream with new songs, and with new noises. In my head they are like undiscovered hits.

NL: You should try to do something with that! Maybe whistle the melo-dies and record them on your phone.

RDR: Maybe. That could be something. Hey, this press release reminds me the episode when Jerry and George pitch their show to CBS; the infamous show about nothing.

NL: Seinfeld should be on the air forever. Every two hours or something like that.

NICO LINARES.Colombian writer living in São Paulo.

I’m the problem, 2016Residencia en Atelier Fidalga.

PATTERNS

Osnova GalleryMoscú, Rusia

2016

Patterns

For his first solo exhibition in Russia, Spanish artist Raul Diaz Reyes has developed two distinct bodies of work. Inspired by his research into the architectures of São Paulo, New York and Madrid, Diaz Reyes began processing the image of the city as a genre that documents construction and habitation, developing a unique language of sculptural abstraction, while employing a variety of materials.

In many instances his work departs from a flashy surface, a shiny material printed and painted upon with seductive design and colours. Aluminium and metal sheets serve as a primer, for elements of architectural photography that stem from the artists extensive archive. These registers are consequently painted or spray-painted upon in compositions that are reminiscent to the pop canon. Thus pictorial and abstract languages converge in Diaz Reyes’ sculptures.

The exhibition at Osnova Gallery presents an ambient of aluminium sculptures on plinths as well as a new body of photographic paintings. In a process of overlapping, the prime surface of the plane aluminium is painted and then crowned with photographic prints, featuring elements of the city, patterns of architecture, that appear to be generic images. Presented in analogous synthetic acrylic boxes, the photographic assemblages can be considered formal works on visual representation yet they also conjure a digital aesthetic. The coloured acrylic frames and the entering day light add to the complexity of the work, resembling illuminated frames that might be perceived by the urban dweller at night.

Adjacent and presented on white plinths of different sizes and levels, Diaz Reyes has assembled a series of enigmatic sculptures. On first view one might interpret them as representations of 3D computer animations. Developed from a synchronous mode of operation similar to the above mentioned framed works, they feature photographed architectural elements printed on aluminium, which are then painted and bent.

Their anatomy is reminiscent to Brazilian artist Lygia Clark’s bichos, while the aesthetics remind us of some of the works produced by architect Zaha Hadid. The works perception hinges on the angle upon which the viewer considers the work. In an eclectic phase of production Diaz Reyes fixes moments of contemporaneity

may they allude to the perception of (post-) modern architecture or the glossy surfaces we consume in front of high definition plasma screens, cell phones and personal computers. Documents of our zeitgeist, Diaz Reyes’ works are precious remainders of our current moment where art becomes architecture becomes art.

Tobi Maier is a curator and art critic based in São Paulo, Brazil.

Patterns, 2016Vista de la exposición. Osnova Gallery.

ARCO 2016

Galería Ponce+RoblesMadrid, España

2016

Las obras de Raúl Díaz Reyes rompen las fronteras disciplinarias haciéndonos entrar en una contemporaneidad rotunda en la cual los lenguajes se alejan de la convención y nos invitan a conformar una mirada panorámica de los entornos. La unión que establece con la arquitectura, así como la mezcla de materiales, nos habla de las ciudades en relación con sus habitantes como sistemas dinámicos en movimiento y alteración constante. De este modo no hay límites dimensiona-les, no hay leyes técnicas: la fotografía se contempla como escultura, la pintura se adentra en ella. Los frutos de esta reflexión sobre la urbe como lugar de inte-racción y cambio cuestionan los modelos expositivos, alterando códigos y dando lugar a nuevos paisajes de posibilidades múltiples.

Raúl Díaz Reyes’ work breaks the frontiers between disciplines, taking us into a decisive contemporaneity, in which all languages drift away from the standard and invite us to knock into shape a panoramic look of our surroundings. The union that is established with architecture, and the mash-up of materials, talks to us about cities in relationship with their inhabitants as dynamic systems in constant movement and alteration. This way, there are no dimensional limits, no technical laws: the photograph is contemplated as a sculpture, and the painting gets into it. The results of this reflection on the city as a place for interaction and change question exhibition models, alters codes, and generate new landscapes with multiple possibilities.

Arco 16

ARCO, 2016Vista del stand. Galería Ponce+Robles

RENOVATIONS

Galería Ponce+RoblesMadrid, España

2014

Renovations

Hey NYCs a swinging place

thru which Dracula cab driver glides over rainslicked streets in a black cartalking about Dracula“most people see horror- I see it as a LOVE story,”his black face bathed Green in the flourescent advertisingthat spills from the buildings thru the drivers side window

not tonight she said. I can’t.these sheets are Ralph Laurenrather lets talk about the Macguffinat the end of the movie the chip that all the spies are afteris a piece of shitbut the whole movie happened for the chipMacguffin on the sidewalk saying “I was never here”just a plot device who takes three steps over flourescent markings and slips into a crack in the sidewalk

all of the constructionthe renovationthe transfers gated off with straps of orange vinyl flourescent men popping out of holes in the groundthe paper blown about in the wind the buildings in flux trying to hidethat there is no Sasquatch-are no UFOS.

The city is a clockcounting down from five months. Paper wrappers- peeled away

In Spain I was George Costanza In New York I am Art Vandelay

In a speakeasy with a copper bathtub

The neon sign blinks

<< A >><< T >><< M >>

stroke/stroke/strokeBack to brushstrokes

City built up and torn down and built upLike a drawing like cut and paste like layers like clocks

10,000 good and bad shows and always finding Hanna or Sameer,or always finding Ikea furniture

I�m a swinging vandelay /swing space

©Raúl Díaz Reyes, text developed with Max Stolkin.

Renovations, 2014Vista de la exposicion. Galería Ponce+Robles.

SP / MAD14

El MataderoMadrid, España

2014-2015

SPMAD/014, un proyecto que presenta como consecuencia de un trabajo iniciado el pasado año durante una residencia artística en Nueva York. Reflexiona sobre la relación del ser humano con la ciudad, adentrándose en el urbanismo contemporáneo y cuestionando nuestra relación con éste. Se ha formalizado en Matadero Madrid a través de una serie de piezas escultóricas sobre pedestal, realizadas en aluminio pintado y lacado, fotografías tomadas durante su estancia en Sao Paulo en 2014, y diversos materiales encontrados y usados en la elaboración de maquetas arquitectónicas.

Durante éste período, realizó una única escultura que desplegada tenía una dimensión de 20 metros de largo, y que posteriormente al ser plegada y arrugada se expandía por el espacio expositivo intentando dialogar con este. Los dos colores de la pieza reflejaban al contraste entre hormigón y naturaleza que se produce en la ciudad de Sao Paulo donde la arquitectura está muy presente, sin la distracción de la publicidad que está prohibida en la calle, con grandes avenidas y multitud de puentes, por lo que es fácil contemplar edificios de gran altura y multitud de estilos en toda su amplitud.

Para Matadero hizo una serie de obras que remitiesen a lo urbano o arquitectónico. Quería reflejar, de un modo sutil, la presencia de la arquitectura. El trabajo fue formalizado a través de 7 obras en aluminio sobre pedestales de una altura ligeramente desproporcionada, Los colores fueron completamente aleatorios, en algunos casos el artista incorporó trazos en spray que recordasen al pixaçao que cubre los edificios paulistas.

SP / MAD14

SPMAD / 014, a project presented as a result of work begun last year during an artist residency in New York. Reflects on the relationship of humans with the city, into the contemporary urbanism and questioning our relationship with it. It has been formalized in Matadero Madrid through a series of sculptural pieces on pedestal, made of aluminum painted and lacquered, photographs taken during his stay in Sao Paulo in 2014, and various materials found and used in the development of architectural models.

During this period, he made a sculpture displayed only had a dimension of 20 meters long, and subsequently being folded and wrinkled expanded the exhibition space by trying to dialogue with this. The two colors of the piece reflected the contrast between concrete and nature that takes place in the city of Sao Paulo where the architecture is very present, without the distraction of advertising is prohibited on the street, with wide avenues and many bridges, so it is easy to see high-rise buildings and a multitude of styles in all its breadth.

To Slaughterhouse he made a series of works that remitiesen to urban or architectural. I wanted to reflect, in a subtle way, the presence of architecture. The work was formalized through 7 works in aluminum on pedestals in a slightly disproportionately high, the colors were completely random, in some cases the artist incorporated spray lines that reminded the pixaçao covering the Paulistas buildings.

SPMAD/014, 2016Vista de la exposición.

RAÚL DÍAZ REYES(1977, Madrid, España)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019(Forthcoming) Raquel Arnaud Gallery, São PauloOsnova Gallery. Moscow

2016I’M THE PROBLEM Atelier Fidalga, São PauloPatterns. Osnova Gallery. Moscow

2014Renovations, Ponce+Robles Gallery, Madrid

2012Archimede’s Principle. (with Santiago Morilla. Curated by Edu Hurtado)3+1 Contemporary Art. Lisbon

2011Intimate Freaks.Emma Thomas Gallery. São PauloPixaçao São Paulo. Jose Robles Gallery. Madrid

2010Vitamina R. La Gesta Imposible. La Noche en Blanco (Curated by DavidArmengol) Madrid

2009Un paseo entre el dibujo, la pintura y un más allá. (Curated by VirginiaTorrente) Centro de Arte Joven, Madrid

2008Always in love. Alfara Gallery, Oviedo / Brita Prinz Gallery, Madrid

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018Idea, materia, forma. Nuevo paradigma en la escultura actual, Red ITINER(Curated by This is Jackalope) Travelling exhibition, MadridARCO, (Ponce+Robles Gallery) Madrid

2017UNTITLED Art Fair Miami Beach. (Ana Mas Projects)Contemplation Room & Library of Love (Project curated by Sandra Cinto)CAC - Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, USATell Me Net. Osnova Gallery, MoscowThe Matter of Color. (Curated by Franck Marlot) Raquel Arnaud Gallery, SãoPauloArt Lima (Ponce+Robles Gallery) LimaKaptateka. Argunovskaya Library. Moscow

2016VOLTA 12. Basel. (Ponce+Robles Gallery)ARCO’16 (Ponce+Robles Gallery) (Land Rover Gallery) MadridUNTITLED Art Fair Miami Beach. (Ana Mas Projects)RAID_8. Raquel Arnaud Gallery. São Paulo. São PauloTomar Posición. Ponce+Robles Gallery, Madrid#ABSOLUTICON. Palacio de las Alhajas. MadridLos piscolabis del cuarto. Cuarto de Invitados. Madrid

2015VOLTA 11. Basel. (Ponce+Robles Gallery)Vidas Cruzadas. Paula Alonso Gallery. MadridDe la mano. CENTRO CENTRO. Madrid

2014Si no todas las armas, los cañones. MATADERO MADRID, Madrid

Tangentes. IED, Madrid. (Curated by Cristina Anglada)El Ranchito. PIVÔ, São PauloVOLTA 10. Basel. (Ponce+Robles Gallery)ARCO ‘14. As Tables Are Shelves. Múltiplos

2013Open Studio. 110 Building Art Center. LMCC. New YorkHigh society Pelaires gallery. Palma de Mallorca. (Curated by FernandoGómez de la Cuesta)VOLTA 9. Basel (Pro Gallery)SP Arte. São Paulo International Art Fair. Brazil. (Emma Thomas Gallery)Une Vie Á La Gomme. +R Gallery. BarcelonaCasa Arte Art Fair. (FranjaMelero). MadridNo hay Banda. Matadero MadridARCO’13. (Paddle8). MadridBlue 7 Phenomenon. Sant Andreu Contemporani Art. BarcelonaBiblioteca Intervenida. DAFO Space of Proyects and Contemporay Art.LleidaArchimovile. Independent Curators International (ICI) New YorkJUSTMAD MAM. Basel / Miami Fair. (Jose Robles Gallery)

2012Suporte/ Leilão de Parede. Pivô. Copan Building, São Paulo100% Desván. Sant Andreu Contemporani Art. BarcelonaLet Stock About Art. Palacio El Imparcial. MadridLos Inmutables. DAFO Space of Proyects and Contemporay Art. LleidaThe 12th Gas Natural Fenosa Art International Exhibition. MACUF, LaCoruñaMasquelibros- I Feria del libro de artista de Madrid. (José Robles Gallery)SWAB Art Fair. (masART Gallery)SP Arte 2012. São Paulo International Art Fair. Brazil. (Emma ThomasGallery)Explum 2012, International Contemporary Art Award, Puerto Lumbreras

ARCO’12. (highligthed artist) (masART Gallery)Circuitos 2011. Sala de Arte Joven de la Comunidad de Madrid. (Curated byJavier Hontoria)

2011Escala 1:1. Matadero Contemporary Art Center, MadridTempo Forte. Casa das Caldeiras. São PauloBiblioteca Intervenida. Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo deSantander y CantabriaWallpaper. Art & Design Gallery. BarcelonaQuarto das Maravilhas. Emma Thomas Gallery. Sao PauloSWAB Art Fair. masART Gallery. BarcelonaHorizonte Vazado: Artistas Iberoamericanos en el Filo. Instituto CervantesSão PauloLa Fábula Mísitica. masART Gallery. Barcelona. (Curated by David Armengol)Arts Libris Fair. Ogami Press. Barcelona

2010SP Arte 2010. São Paulo International Art Fair. Emma Thomas GalleryLa trama Invisible. Centro de Arte Moderno. MadridThe Art Books Project. Esquina Gallery Madrid.Gregorio Prieto Drawing Price. Gregorio Prieto Foundation,Valdepeñas,Sala La Lonja, Madrid

2009La ropa Sucia se lava en casa. Emma Thomas Gallery, São PauloDe Madrid, el Suelo. Itinerant exhibition, Sofía Street Art Festival, Sofía,BulgariaInaugural Exhibit. Art:Raw Gallery, New YorkPerrera. Arturo Herrera Cabañas Foundation, Pachuca, MexicoHacerlo Sólo No Es Lo Mismo. Espacio Menosuno. MadridCincuenta y la Madre. Alfara Gallery. Oviedo

2008Doméstico’08. El Papel del Artista. MadridD1NaCER0. Gráfica Digital. Sala Zuloaga, Fuendetodos, ; Sala Okendo, SanSebastiánBon a tirer 17/10. Circulo de Bellas Artes de MadridV Exposición de Donaciones de Obra Gráfica .Biblioteca Nacional: 1998-2002. MadridCarmen Arozena International Graphic Award. Taller Gravura, Málaga

2007Triangel ein Grafikprojekt, Wien Madrid Bentlage. Kloster Bentlage, Rheine,GermanyTextual.Center of Art Casa Duró, Mieres; School of Arts Oviedo; CMAE, AvilésLAUS Awards. ADG-FAD de BarcelonaEstampa 07. Stand Cabildo Insular de la PalmaAprender a Mirar. Sala de exposiciones del Distrito Retiro, MadridDe Madrid, el Suelo. Offlimits and Espacio F, Madrid

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2016Paulo Reis Residency. Atelier Fidalga, São Paulo

2014Grant AECID. El Ranchito / MATADERO MADRID and PIVÔAid to the Production Omnivoros Studio

2013Grant for the Promotion of the Spanish Contemporary Art, Ministry ofCulture of SpainSwing Space Residency. LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) New

York. USA2012Finalist. Swab Drawing Prize

2011Grant for the Promotion of the Spanish Contemporary Art, Ministry ofCulture of SpainFAAP Art Residency. São PauloCircuitos 2011 (selected)

2010Hangar Grant. Casa das Caldeiras, São PauloGrant for Contemporary Creation Matadero MadridHonourable mention Carmen Arozena. International Graphic Award

2009International Creators Movility Grant. Matadero Madrid, Emma ThomasGallery, São PauloAid to the Production of Plastic Arts. Comunidad de Madrid

2008Arte y Derecho Fundation GrantSelection, Call Sala de Exposiciones Centro de Arte Joven de Madrid

2007Druckwerkstatt Bentlage Foundation Grant, GermanyHonourable mention Carmen Arozena International Graphic Award

2006First Prize Artistic intervention in new subway stations.Comunidad deMadridSecond Prize Fotografía Dirección General de Igualdad de Oportunidadesde la Comunidad de Madrid

2004Art Acquisition. Collection of Contemporary Art BBVA Foundation

2003First Prize Jóvenes Creadores National Award, Calcografía Nacional, Madrid

2001First Prize Graphic Art Award San Lorenzo del Escorial.

RAÚL DÍAZ REYES - PONCE+ROBLESDe la producción del diseñador gráfico norteamericano Saul Bass,...

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