As the De la Cruz Collection’s 2014 – 2015 exhibition comes to a close on Saturday, it’s worth reflecting on its origins: as described, Beneath The Surface was a selection of pieces from “a generation of artists redefining post-war art movements.” More specifically, Beneath The Surface contains a cross-section of new abstraction and figurative painting, their set-up alone often blurring the distinction between the two disciplines. Examining the American landscape through a lens both jaded and transformed by a lack of boundaries between the organic and technological selves, the works of this exhibition are loaded: existing in this particular century is to be equally technologically over-stimulated and wonderfully connected. If the self has shifted into something more self-referential than ever before, then so too has the figure, its setting, and its meaning.
On the ground floor, Wade Guyton’s massive linen canvas created using an Epson printer in place of paint; Mark Bradford’s abstracted landscapes layer, strip apart, then layer again found signage from the street, paying homage to cities’ inherent racial and social hierarchies in both content and (peeling, exposed) form. Sterling Ruby’s towering Monument Stalagmite, the result of paint and urethane dripping from above, addresses what the artist describes as his generation’s “dilemma of how beauty is prescribed.” On the second floor, Jacob Kassay’s reflective paintings render the viewer’s self some sort of illusion; on the third floor, Félix González-Torres re-examines portraiture with Untitled (Portrait of Dad): a mountain of his father’s favorite mints, always shifting as visitors dip into the pile for a mid-view snack. Beneath The Surface creates a challenging space, but in its redefinition of vantage point and traditional concepts, it is ultimately poignant.
Beneath The Surface is still on view through Saturday, October 10, 2015. See it at the de la Cruz Collection, located at 23 NE 41st Street in Miami Design District, during the gallery’s regular hours Tuesdays—Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free of charge. Visit www.delacruzcollection.org for more information.
With contributions by Monica Uszerowicz
