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ZBYNěK BALADRáN
When in 1735. Courtesy galery Hunt Kastner, Prague.
JESUS ALBERTO BENITEZ
Jesus Alberto Benitez is greatly influenced by music, particularly
by Death Metal and experimental electro-acoustic music. He
thinks of photographs as different possible versions of the same
piece of music, whence the importance of concrete activity in the
studio as a constant means of assimilating outside contingencies
and including production mistakes. He likes to imitate some
of the effects of these, such as, for example, creased paper,
wrinkles on the canvas, crushed fabric, traces of the scanner,
and uneven margins. Using photosensitive paper is typical of his
attention to the role of chance. He works with rolls of paper that
have already been affected by the light, sometimes letting the
paper deteriorate further in his studio. He also uses spray-paint
as a material that 'projects' in the same indeterminate way. It
escapes the control of the artist without defining a precise line.
The importance of the material quality of his supports prevents
any distinction between the object and the image. Wade Guyton,
Walead Beshty, Sigmar Polke and photographs of sculptures by
Constantin Brancusi are important references for Benitez. The
ephemeral nature of the materials he uses has influenced his
interpretation of Physics, in particular theories of the origins and
constitution of matter and space-time.
F. O. tr J. H.
Born in 1978 in Valencia (Venezuela), lives and works in Lyon
(France).
Les Prairies's artists
Baladrán is interested in theoretical and cognitive
models and their translation into visual terms and
locates his ideas in the digital age. "Freshly created
images also become ruins. The rate at which this
happens is proportionate to the rate at which new
images are created. This is the space-time relationship
of culture and human history". Zbynek ̌
Baladrán's work
takes the form of a retro-futurist atlas and suggests the
evaporation of content and meaning, while offering
a new interpretation of representation and scientific
classification systems. When in 1735 refers to the
industrial revolution and the concealment of the
human and social consequences of the development
of machines. In Model for the Universe, Baladrán
enunciates, at the same time as he designs them,
successive hypotheses for "an exhibition as model of
the universe". He places artistic rules and systems of
scientific or social organisation on an equal footing,
on the theory that any object can become a model for
the universe and, consequently, for an exhibition. His
modular composition Assemblage Against Essence
interrogates our relationships with knowledge and
cognitive models. Baladrán demonstrates the arbitrary
and reversible nature of these models.
M. C. tr. J. tH.
Born in 1973 in Prague (Czech Republic) where he lives
and works.
Untitled, 2012. Courtesy galery Frank Elbaz, Paris.
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