Río y Mar (River and Sea) by Alicia Paz
29 May – 7 August 2021
Beecroft Art Gallery. The Old Central Library, Victoria Ave, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EX
Río y Mar (River and Sea) is an exhibition by visual artist Alicia Paz. It will take place at Beecroft Gallery, Southend-on-Sea UK from Saturday 29th May 2021 to Saturday 7th August 2021. This show is in participation with the Estuary 2021 Associated Programme. A sound piece by artist Michael Szpakowski, based on an idea by Alicia Paz, is also included in the exhibit.
The exhibit has been generously supported by Arts Council England. The project is in partnership with ESCALA, Collection of Latin-American Art of the University of Essex.
Alicia Paz, Juntas (detail), 2021, photo by Steve and Jackson White
Presenting new paintings, sculptures and installations, in this exhibition Paz reflects on the construction of female identity in relation to geography, partly inspired by research into the imagery of the Thames Estuary. More broadly, Alicia has explored the metaphorical dimension and rich symbolism of the sea, and of estuaries and rivers, considering them as areas of movement, exchange, transition and renewal. Within this context, she examines historical female figures, as well as international relationships of mutual support and women’s empowerment.
The exhibition Río y Mar is pertinent in the context of Beecroft Gallery as it resonates with works in its permanent collection that depict ships and seascapes, as well as female attires such as vintage wedding dresses and dated bathing costumes. These themes anchored her artistic production and inspired works like the female swimmers among other significant female portraits.
Additionally, the exhibition’s aesthetic references the blue and white ceramic tradition of both European delftware and Mexican Talavera tiles. Paz imitates in oil painting both the look and surface of the tiles, using a myriad of trompe l’oeil techniques. The works in the exhibition are part of her on-going Laughing Walls series, in which multi-faceted representations of jubilant ‘walls’ allow for an exploration and interweaving of narratives. In the context of 18th century Rococo ornamentation, the paintings playfully consider the decorative as a pictorial tool. The works often incorporate the image of a speech bubble, as a way of representing female expression and shared creativity, through a kind of ‘conversation’ between the represented portraits and figures.
The motif of the ‘tree’ in relation to the shape of estuaries is also explored, as a symbol of multiplicity within unity, and of nature’s cyclical life-flow. Sculptural installations composed of brass and also plywood silhouettes, as well as over-sized ceramic necklaces, further expand on the exhibition’s themes.
For the sound piece Soñadoras, Michael has composed and edited an interplay of original musical arrangements and recorded dream narratives. The dreams are narrated out-loud, both in English and Spanish, by a group of ‘dreamers’, made up of women artists and art-world professionals. This presentation of the oneiric subconscious seeks to create a modulated, intimate and aesthetically impressive experience that we hope will captivate the public, in graceful dialogue with the dreamlike creativity of Alicia’s paintings and sculptures. The sound piece, which was first presented by Michael at the Leonora Carrington Museum in Mexico, is available to the public by scanning a QR code visible both at the Beecroft Gallery and on the exhibition’s poster, installed throughout Southend-on-Sea. You can listen to the Sound Piece HERE
About the artists
Alicia Paz is a Mexican artist based in London. Alicia’s paintings, collages and sculptures deal primarily with identity and the notion of a divided author, and explore the mutability of subjectivity. Alicia focuses on the female figure: the Self is experienced and presented as multiple, paradoxical, and in flux. Inhabiting fantastical landscapes, her feminine subjects become fused and combined with organic life. Her work at times incorporates visual elements taken from applied and decorative arts, such as ceramic delftware, using these registers as a vehicle for intertwining narratives. Other recent subjects include cultural hybridity and representations of family, exploring the complexities of kinship and lineage in a globalised world.
Alicia Paz has had several solo exhibitions in the UK, France, Germany, Mexico, and Argentina, and recently with Michael Szpakowski at the Museo Leonora Carrington in Mexico (2019). Her show at Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Germany (2016) was accompanied by a bilingual monograph published by VfMK, Vienna. As a multi-cultural artist, Paz’s work was included in the group exhibit Tous, des sang-mêlés, held at MACVAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, France (2017). Earlier solo projects include an exhibit at Dukan Gallery in Leipzig (2014), Mexican Cultural Institute in Paris (2013), Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2006) and Ruth Benzacar Gallery in Buenos Aires (2005).
Michael Szpakowski is a British artist, composer and educator, well known in the international scene of contemporary art, as evidenced by his extensive record of exhibitions, awards and high-profile publications throughout Europe and the United States. He has been awarded a PhD by publication from the University of Westminster for his body of work and dissertation entitled: Scenes of Provincial Life: An online video sequence and commentary. His short films have been shown throughout the world. He is a joint editor of the online video resource DVblog. Michael’s work explores the mystery of everyday life and of being human in a particular place and time. His extensive artistic practice encompasses not only film and video, but also painting, drawing, sound works, and critical writing.
Curator
Lassla Esquivel will act as guest curator, liaising with the Beecroft Art Gallery and ESCALA (Collection of Latin American Art of the University of Essex, partners in this project). She is an Art historian, consultant, independent curator and researcher. She has an MA in History and Business of the Contemporary Art Market (with an emphasis in Latin America) by Warwick University. Her curatorial projects have been showcased in Latin America, EMEA and Asia- Pacific regions and the UK. She has collaborated with not for profit projects and organisations like PAC (Contemporary Art Patronage, Mexico City) Bold Tendencies (London), Edge of Arabia (London) and Barbican (London). Her latest research has been published by Routledge in the anthology: Art Museums of Latin America Structuring Representation in March 2018. Lassla is founder of Periferia Projects, a curatorial platform creating connections between Latin America, the UK and Europe. Periferia’s focus is to develop projects with artists from emerging hubs to enhance their visibility and promote collaboration with new galleries, artists and institutions.
