Rising Stars Curator's Statement

Fernando Lafuente is a photographer in the most direct sense. In his “Traces” series he literally writes down on film the traces of consumption found on the inside walls of garbage dumpsters in underprivileged parts of the city. He tracks down and captures a beautiful ugliness no one even cares to look at. His technique couldn't be more direct since the photos are unaltered, uncropped and life-size scale from the medium-format negative. Yet the abstraction that takes place heightens the importance of these traces to artistic, sociologic and almost archeological proportions. The traces are remnants of already consumed and digested goods and the traces themselves do not exist anymore except in his photos. The structure and materiality is reminiscent of Frank Thiel’s paint series but I think Lafuente’s works are conceptually much deeper and more thought-provoking than those of the German star photographer.

Whether this selection will stand the test of time remains to be decided in a world where definitions of quality become the play ball of the market. For me after all the intrinsic quality of the works is indisputable and thus justifies an inclusion in the Rising Stars concept.

Till Richter - 2007


Rising Stars 3 January 21 - February 17, 2007 Curator's statement
The aim of Rising Stars Vol. 3 is, as usual, to show works in different media by artists who, by their talent and ambition, might have a good chance of being successful in art historic and market terms. My selection for 2007 is even more diverse than those of the two previous editions. The work of Alonso Rey from Peru really stands out compared to the internationalized art fair esthetics; my choice is deliberately anti-cyclical. His oil paintings are figurative, narrative, autobiographic, expressionistic and thus differ from the rather impersonal canon prevalent today. They are literally cutting edge in the illustration of the painter’s psyche without taking recourse to Baconesque distortions but instead employ the direct disgust seen in the Isenheim Altar and the codified metaphors used in Flemish painting. The pure fact that Mexican master painter Arturo Rivera, who won the First Prize in the 2005 Beijing International Art Biennial, took Rey under his wing and Rey’s consequent progress in a very short time speak for his talent. His naturalistic yet slightly surrealist style is highly recognizable. It conveys emotions in a dramatic, exuberant and sometimes humorous way that is more often found in Latin-American art than in US or European art. Adreon Henry’s prints caught my attention because of their very unusual technique. Image layering is a current and relevant method in contemporary art in general and in printmaking in particular ever since Rauschenberg. What Henry does, however, is to actually weave stripes of material (canvas and vinyl) into an image that has no beginning and no end. It vanishes and reappears, continuously mending and amending itself. Furthermore, the material is worked from both sides; the vinyl being screen-printed from the back and painted from the front, only to be sanded down again to reveal a figurative composition under an abstract veil. The way the information is delivered and composed is not unlike the interweb but much more organic. The subject matter of old car manuals and street maps is perfectly aligned with the literal entanglements of what we might now perceive as a pre-industrial esthetic.		El Cantante by Alonso Rey oil on panel, 2006, 48" x 24"
Fernando Lafuente is a photographer in the most direct sense. In his “Traces” series he literally writes down on film the traces of consumption found on the inside walls of garbage dumpsters in underprivileged parts of the city. He tracks down and captures a beautiful ugliness no one even cares to look at. His technique couldn't be more direct since the photos are unaltered, uncropped and life-size scale from the medium-format negative. Yet the abstraction that takes place heightens the importance of these traces to artistic, sociologic and almost archeological proportions. The traces are remnants of already consumed and digested goods and the traces themselves do not exist anymore except in his photos. The structure and materiality is reminiscent of Frank Thiel’s paint series but I think Lafuente’s works are conceptually much deeper and more thought-provoking than those of the German star photographer. Whether this selection will stand the test of time remains to be decided in a world where definitions of quality become the play ball of the market. For me after all the intrinsic quality of the works is indisputable and thus justifies an inclusion in the Rising Stars concept. Till Richter - 2007
Studio 107 specializes in emerging and under-represented contemporary artists.