Carlos Amorales
Palazzo delle Esposizioni
October 9, 2010- February 27 2011
http://english.palazzoesposizioni.it/Mediacenter/FE/CategoriaMedia.aspx?idc=401&explicit=SI

by Kirila Cvetkovska


Carlos Amorales renders a mixture of abstract forms and nature, through the exhibiting space at Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome). He offers a fairytale-like ambient, exposing five installations in a black and white contrast which transmit his own stances and visions. The works are placed over three rooms in a continuous sequence, encompassing a lucid narrative. Their fusion brings in the exhibition title- Remix, as a mark of the diverse vibrations of the actual show.
Working in a wide range of media: from video animation to drawing and performance art, Carlos Amorales (born in 1970, in Mexico) extends his art beyond reality. He creates a synthesis between the “ideas” and the “cravings”, implementing freedom of movement and interpretation. The artist presents his concerns with horror and resistance, while the viewers are free to interpret the art works in their own way. Thus, by using a hybridisation process in his art, Amorales conveys imaginative splendor and motivation. His first works of art included performances of masked wrestlers, which reflected the artist’s yearning for competition in the modern world. Nowadays, Amorales searches for a symbolic significance and quality through the features of the hybridisation process. He juxtaposes various natural and abstract forms, utilizing them as metaphors for the struggle between good and evil or the parallel amongst beauty and terror.
As the viewers enter the exhibiting space, they encounter the seven hundred and fifty-one segments of Drifting Star (2010) which hang down from the ceiling. They seem as broken (black) glass pieces revealing pure abstraction, but also a dose of vitality and rapture. One can even walk within the installation, directly experiencing the artist’s intention for presenting a dream-like surrounding, full of obstacles and chances. Amorales places this installation at the center of the room, where the walls appear as its backdrop. They are covered with pencil drawing Throwing the Studio out of the Window (2010) which comprises of circular black lines and reflects the artist’s aggressive inner state. Hence, these two works have contrasted concerns- the fantasy world which flickers the viewer’s imagination and the intensity of the author’s persona, all wrapped in Amorales’ unique visual language.
The three smaller rooms on the right that assemble the show are filled with diverse installations. The walls of each room are covered with the work Black Cloud (2007) which consists of huge number of black butterflies, simply attached to the walls and the ceiling. The vast amount of replicated butterflies reveals an opaque, threatening crowd, yet transcendent and evocative to an everlasting fate. In fact, this art work is a symbol of collective power and its effects, generated by the firmness of the group, where the limitations of beauty and terror are distorted. Additionally, in the first two rooms, the walls are also covered with Why Fear the Future? (2006), integrating black figures of birds flying in different directions. By imposing the question “Why fear the future?”, a particular confrontation with the uncertainty of time is suggested, reflected through the multiplied images of the birds. This repetition of line and form reflects stability and an ultimate surmount of the actual fear. Moreover, the rooms include a series of pencil drawings on their walls, still indicating the significance of the artist’s bouncing inner state.
Beside the work Black Cloud, the third room also hosts Liquid Archive (2009) which includes postcards with different images, presented as gifts to the viewers. This is the final point of the exhibition, in which the spectators sum up their impressions and get a small reward for their attention.
By using allegorical depictions, Carlos Amorales creates a coherent illustration of various subject matters: from freedom of movement to potential and collective strength. He conveys a dream-like atmosphere, still concerned with issues of the everyday world such as the overcoming of a certain fear. Amorales combines diverse installations in order to produce a whole with harmonious story, accompanied by his attitudes and ideas. However, he allows the viewers to dig deeper in his works and try to achieve a unique notion and interpretation.