Martirene Alcรกntara
OCT 11 - DEC 6, 2019
A N AC T O F P O E T I C I M AG I N AT I O N
METAMORPHOSES
The mission of Ucross is to foster the creative work of both accomplished and emerging artists by providing uninterrupted time, studio space, living accommodations, and the experience of Wyoming’s majestic High Plains, and to serve as a responsible steward of its historic 20,000-acre ranch. Through its residency program supporting individuals and groups from an array of disciplines—writers, visual artists, composers, performing artists and more— Ucross participates in the process by which a society is strengthened and emboldened by its most forward-looking arts. Visiting artists from around the world forge a small, intimate community in a setting that allows their creative endeavors to thrive. A public, non-profit organization sustained by the generosity of many donors, Ucross is home to a working ranch located at the confluence of three pristine creeks. Ucross believes that being a responsible steward of the land resembles being a dedicated artist, and vice versa. Both require vision, imagination, commitment, and the sustainable use of resources. Through all of its initiatives, Ucross strives to cast a reflection into the future from the cultural mirror of our lives and times.
AN ACT OF POETIC IMAGINATION ARCHITECTURE. GEOMETRY. ABSTRACTION. POETRY
Motherwell said that abstract art is an art
friend of Martirene: "... a ruin loses its
stripped down to the bare to show only the
accessories to keep the fundamental."
fundamental. It is curious how, from that angle, abstract photography is the most purely objective
Martirene Alcántara has a romance, in fact
and figurative, eliminating the superfluous
various simultaneously, but one of the strongest
to create an object sustained by the pure
is with architecture, and to photograph it is her
form. One cannot look at abstract art without
form of courtship. Her romance, combined with
thinking. It is probably the art expression that
great passion, does not diminish in intensity with
requires the most intellectual exercise.
time, only changes its manifestations. In this Act of Poetic Imagination, she traverses spaces and
The structures that shelter us are initially
takes from each one essential element to create
functional, strictly a haven from elements and
her astounding images. Gradually, she has been
threats. But we believe that is not enough,
stripping the structures to stay only with the
we make spaces an extension of ourselves
fundamental. Her constructions are connected
and then, as Laurence Durrell suggests, those
to the imagination, they begin from the concrete,
spaces form us as social and urban entities.
suggesting new forms and readings to propose
Where there is matter there is geometry, said
a new journey in the imagination of the viewer.
Johannes Kepler. In architecture, materials and
Martirene's traveling vocation certainly influences
geometry are added to light and time, to evolve
her artwork to create imaginary architecture
in a language that speaks of stories, or simply
from structural elements she picks up here and
presents a place to gaze and evoke or trigger
there, elements of stone, or elements of light; no
ideas that suggest more than what we see. In
matter where they come from, what matters is
that process, the work is "ruining itself," in the
what they become.
sense of becoming gradually a ruin, as said by Carlos Mijares, the great architect and close
— Ricardo J. Garibay
FIRST ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Labyrinthos IV, Giclée, 11 3/4 x 15 3/4"; Demeter, Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Divergence, Giclée, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4"; Ikarus, Piezography 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; SECOND ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Cytherea, Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Owen’s Obsession, Giclée, 15 3/4 x 23 5/8"; Intueri, Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Cyclops, Giclée, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4"; THIRD ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Phantasos, Piezography, 19 5/8 x 27 1/2"; Pegasus, Giclée, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Conversation (MoMA Permanent Collection), Giclée, 27 1/2 x 46 1/2"; Eos, Piezography, 15 3/4 x 15 3/4"; FOURTH ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Lycurgus’ Legacy, Piezography, 15 3/4 x 23 5/8"; Satiros, Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Eukleides (MoMA Permanent Collection) Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Minotauro, Piezography, 19 5/8 x 27 1/2"; FIFTH ROW FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Astraeus, Piezography, 15 3/4 x 15 3/4"; Asteria, Piezography, 27 1/2 x 19 5/8"; Theseus’ Way, Giclée, 15 3/4 x 23 5/8"; Pigeonnier, Piezography, 23 5/8 x 15 3/4"(all dimensions are unframed)
MARTIRENE ALCÁNTARA
Martirene Alcántara was born in Mexico City.
Alcántara has participated in several solo and
As a daughter of two fine art painters, she grew
group exhibitions in galleries and museums in
up infused by the visual world around her and
Europe, Latin America, and the United States,
chose photography as her form of expression.
and her work has been published by museums, such as the Quai Branly and the Pinacotheque,
Alcántara studied Architecture, Art, and
in Paris; Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin; Rietberg
Photography in Mexico City, the United States,
in Zürich; Museo de Antropología and the
and Spain. She is an abstract visual artist and
Museo de Arte Abstracto Manuel Felguérez in
photographer specializing in architecture, and
Mexico; and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in
has ventured into stage design. Her artwork
Rome. Her photographs have also appeared
has been described as “a convergence zone
in important magazines like Stonexus, United
between photography and painting.” With
States; Beaux Arts, France; Tribe, Belgium; 2G,
an emphasis on lines and rhythm, she finds
Barcelona; Artes de México, Mexico; and others.
intimacy in her work. Her images recreate not an object, but the effect it produces, exploring
Alcántara has been a speaker at a TEDx Talk,
its essence until it evolves into the final piece.
and at various universities. She has taught photography in Mexico, the United States,
Her work is part of the permanent collection
Uruguay and Spain.
of the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), as well as many private art collections.
Through the years, she has lived in Mexico,
She has received various awards and recognition
San Francisco, New York, and France, and has
in Mexico, Austria, and the United States,
traveled extensively, learning, and experimenting.
among them a Rockefeller/FONCA Grant to
Martirene Alcántara keeps moving forward,
publish her first book, and a Karen Shea and
higher, taking her creativity to the next level.
Gabe Silverman Endowed Fellowship. She is a Fellow of Ucross Foundation and Brush
Martirene dedicates this show in memory of her father,
Creek Arts, both in Wyoming; the Salzburg,
Ernesto Alcántara.
Künstlerhaus, in Austria; the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Virginia; the Edward F. Albee Foundation, in New York; and the Willapa Bay AiR, in Washington.
Martirene Alcántara
METAMORPHOSES A N AC T O F P O E T I C I M AG I N AT I O N
OCT 11 - DEC 6, 2019
FRIDAY, OCT 11, 2019 Reception + Artist Talk 5 - 7 pm Events are free and open to the public.
GALLERY HOURS M-F 10:00 am - 4:00 pm | Saturday by appointment
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