IN REVIEW
JUAN WILLIAM CHÁVEZ:
SUN HIVE
Juan William Chávez: Sun Hive at the Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design showed a mix of sculpture and paintings, all built upon the varying aspects of a cultural and personal identity and all they encompass. Taking both elements of his cultural heritage and his practice working with bees, Chávez creates pieces that elevate a communal relationship that has existed for thousands of years. Many of the sculptures include items from beekeeping. Hive Worker I and Hive Worker II show two gloves, used for protection when working with a bee hive, mounted on metal rods, displayed upright. Other than the display, they are shown unaltered. Their importance as an object becomes more than respect of the work they aid in. The gloves become almost reliquary.
Likewise, Hive Tool I transforms an object into a relic. Many of the sculptures are assemblages, made up of pieces and materials used in beekeeping, creating abstract works that both reference beekeeping and are, at the same time, not direct depictions. Hive Tool I highlights a small hand shovel, its spade draped in golden brass. Above the shovel, suspended by a wooden frame, sits –or floats– an artificial honeycomb. The purpose of the shovel—that it plays a role in working bees—is immediately clear. Clear too, is its importance. While the objects may be recognizable, their arrangement in the assemblages, as with Hive Tool I, Hive tool II, and Hive Tool III, placed within old wooden frames, creates an almost Duchamp-esque abstraction. While Chávez, in these smaller sculptures, takes materials from beekeeping or those indicative of Peru to create abstracted works,
Juan William Chávez, installation view (image courtesy of Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design) 01 ALLTHEARTSTL.COM SUMMER 2017
IN REVIEW
CRAFT ALLIANCE the most representational piece in the show takes the opposite approach. Originally made for and shown at Artspace in San Antonio, Hive Body presents the tall, demanding presence of a beehive sculpture made of recycled materials salvaged from a camper van. It is such a convincing representation of a beehive, the stacked boxes, that it is almost alarming to see it indoors. This hive is not, however, made of anything related to the care of bees or honey collection. The piece that appears to show the strongest visual connection to beekeeping is also the piece that contains the least connected materials. It is this play that makes Sun Hive so intriguing and engaging. In perhaps his most referential depiction of his Peruvian roots, and perhaps the center of the show, is the unmissable Shaman’s Blanket. Sitting on what appears to be a large,