Metamorphoses: An Act of Poetic Imagination

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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