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Acid Rain: The curious paradox of the beauty of destruction
DEFOLIANTGRID1072AF by Jorge Canale
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DEFOLIANTGRID1072AF by Jorge Canale. Courtesy of the artist
Artist Jorge Canale was born and raised in Argentina, where he studied drawing and engraving with Roberto Paez and painting with Demetrio Urruchúa. The multitalented man also earned a degree in architecture from the University of Buenos Aires and directs a commercial design studio, Estudio Jorge Canale. With his exhibit “Acid Rain” on display this month in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post contacted him by email to learn more about his work.
When did you know you were an artist? And what does the term mean to you?
My classical training has given me a wide range of tools, which ultimately serve as a means to create my works. But during these studies, I never asked whether I was an artist, because I understand art as an aesthetic expression that gains its value with the passage of time, when it has moved beyond the circumstantial reasons that gave it birth.
How does your life in Argentina affect your artwork? Do you focus on different themes or depict things differently to how an artist in New York or Jakarta would?
Argentinean reality affects my work inasmuch as it affects my personal experiences and the subjects that attract my attention. Nonetheless, I understand that globalization has brought about an internationalization of motifs, and that in the end it is individuals, with their unique points of view, who produce their own different interpretations.
Your exhibition in Jakarta is partly sponsored by the Embassy of Argentina, as part of its cultural exchange program. What role do you think art can play in this kind of cultural diplomacy?
I think that art, as an aspect of culture, is also responsible for building bridges between different countries. My exhibition in Jakarta, which was sponsored by the Argentine Embassy and by Tenaris, demonstrates this.
Can you tell us a little about how you made these paintings, your process and your methods?
For the show “Acid Rain”, I chose to use a drip technique with acrylics, scant use of the brush and a very controlled flow. I made this choice because I felt it expressed with the most clarity the final meaning of the work, which was the damage the planet and the various species that inhabit it have suffered because of the actions of mankind.
The aesthetic result of the technique I chose shows the curious paradox of the beauty of destruction. Beyond dripping acrylics on cloth, I also used brushwork, splashing and “windowing” or masking with tape or plotters for the typography.
Each of these canvasses (which I worked on simultaneously, each piece in relation to the entire exhibit) took a long time to complete, and each one required countless steps and operations. The works in the show were produced in periods ranging from six months to a year on average, because I didn’t consider them complete until the dialogue between them arrived at a common accord.
The idea of process and project in my series is a very important part of my production. I thoroughly investigate the subjects of my work beforehand, with long phases of study and reading that form the underlying conceptual basis of my works.
You are also an architect and a designer. How do these different aspects of your work relate to each other?
I can say that perhaps, because of my knowledge of architecture and design, my visual works are defined within this concept of a “project.” In this way, each one is preceded by a long period of documentary research, which is sustained by the emotional bond I establish with the subject. The completion is “open” to dialogue between the idea-concept and the physical relationship with the materials that support it.
Is there a message you hope viewers come away with?
I hope to awaken in the viewer the consciousness that the roots of destruction are concealed behind the “marks” (texts invented and put in the works as typography), and that the aesthetics or the beauty of destruction can obscure its damage.
– JP/Isabel Esterman
The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
“Acid Rain” by Jorge Canale was on display at the National Gallery Indonesia from May 25 to June 7. The exhibit continues at Galeria Linggareseni, Jl. Kemang Timur No. 36, until June 20.
