For his solo show Castles, Dwarfs, and Happychaps at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT, Season 3 artist Arturo Herrera, uses a Renaissance technique called “pouncing” to transfer a design from paper to the gallery wall. Aldrich curatorial director Jessica Hough points out that “in the Renaissance a pounce drawing would be the starting point for an oil painting or fresco, but here Herrera uses the traditional technique to achieve a contemporary end.” Hough continues that “the result [is] a complex drawing of knotted dwarfs, complete with pick axes and gemstones, composed of dots of several colors.”
In his work, Herrera borrows imagery from children’s books and other popular culture sources to create hybrid works of art that are both familiar and foreign. These works can take the form of a large-scale installation of cut felt, a wall painting, or an intimate work on paper.
This exhibition features work dating from 1998 through the present and besides the 22-foot-long, floor-to-ceiling pounced drawing, the exhibition also includes works on, and meticulously cut from, paper.
Castles, Dwarfs, and Happychaps is on view at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum through September 3, 2007. Read more about the exhibition here.
