These days, anything can be called art. An “artist” will tie-up a pair of fuchsia
patent leather shoes with an electric chord, throw baby iguana dung on them and
perch the whole thing over a gold coat rack and call it sculpture. Or the “artist” will delegate the craft of
his work to his studio assistants, noting that it’s the “idea” behind the work
that counts and that the execution is less important. I guess this is the result of today’s
maniacal consumerist drive to commercialize “things” by calling them art. But
this is not my view. To me art is the
skill of invention by demonstrating unique practical ability.
Early in March, I was walking through Times Square and ran
into a beautifully modeled, large white marble sculpture (approx. 6 feet tall)
that stopped me in my tracks. It seemed
to me the artist had skillfully spent umpteen hours bringing it to its final
form. It was beautiful! As it turned
out, the artwork was by Uruguayan über-sculptor Pablo Atchugarry (b. 1952) an
artist whose work I was already very familiar with.
Like the greatest sculptors before him, Atchugarry makes his
own work from a variety of materials. When
he works with marble as he so frequently does, he methodically chooses the
block of stone personally (yes he will go to Carrara himself to get his
material), paying close attention to its color, surface, vein and patina. He makes no sketches, but draws directly on
the surface and then skillfully and slowly gives the inert block its life. He is a celebrated contemporary artist whose work is sold in the primary and secondary markets, is included in important public and private collections from Japan to Argentina
and is part of that elite group of artists that has represented their country
at the Venice Biennale.
Currently with a show at Albemarle Gallery in London through
8 September 2012, I’ve had the rare opportunity to preview his work and have
selected a few of my favorite pieces – in different mediums – that work
phenomenally well in any blue-chip modernist interior. Enjoy!
image credits: Daniele e Bruno Cortese for Pablo
Atchugarry. Images from top to
bottom: Untitled, 2012, Carrara marble,
24 x 5.9 x 4.3 in (61 x 15 x 11 cm.) | Untitled, 2009, Bronze, 35 x 6 x 6 in.
(89.5 x 16 x 16 cm) | Untitled, Olive wood, 53.2 x 25.6 x 25.6 in. (135 x 65 x
65 cm.) | Untitled, Pink Portugal marble, 19.3 x 7.5 x 7.5 in. (49 x 19 x 18
cm.)
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