‘WE ARE ALL MAD HERE’ IN ALICE’S WORLD

THE STUDIOS FEATURES WORKS BY RUBÉN ALPÍZAR THROUGH FEB. 23

Artist Rubén Alpízar would like you to follow him down the rabbit hole.

Alpízar’s painting ,“Alice’s Wonderful World,” is on view at The Studios of Key West Feb. 2-23, with an opening reception Thursday, Feb. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Alpízar, of Santiago de Cuba, smartly uses Lewis Carroll’s famed character Alice as the metaphorical jumping point to lead his audience on a fantastical journey.

Filled with masterly painting techniques and allegorical images, Alpízar’s work is reminiscent of old masters combined with postmodern humor and irony. The result is a symbolic playground of intellectual whimsy and the emotional reverberation of the Cheshire Cat’s famous line, “We are all mad here.”

Like Alice, Alpízar seems to be asking, “I wonder which way I ought to go.”

Using palette colors that replicate the work of Dutch Renaissance artist Peter Bruegel, the ochre colors and architectural structure set the tone for our historical journey. But then, as if looking at art history is equivalent to a mad tea party, the canvases deliver a disarray of images of historical artists and cultural icons such as Christ, Da Vinci, Velázquez, Goya, Van Gogh, Duchamp, Warhol, Kahlo, Picasso and Rembrandt. But he also includes familiar iconography of art such as Andrew Wyeth’s Christina, George Seurat’s Sunday in the Park, the Rolling Stones’ lip symbol, or even Twitter’s bird icon. No symbol is without a cultural meaning on the broad spectrum. Alpízar is playful with his choices, highlighting art’s irony that a pink flamingo is just as important as Dali’s melting clock.

The work is paying homage to the masters while folding Alpízar into the fabric of art history. Like Alice, he is saying, “and what is the use of a book without pictures or conversation?’”