Federico Herrero
12 - 30 Aug 2008
© Federico Herrero
Paisaje, 2007
Installation at Parque Berrio's Metro Station Photo by Juan Manuel Perdomo
Paisaje, 2007
Installation at Parque Berrio's Metro Station Photo by Juan Manuel Perdomo
FEDERICO HERRERO
Passengers: 1.12
Off-Site | Aug. 12–30, 2008
The Costa Rican artist Federico Herrero makes paintings in unexpected places that behave in unpredictable ways, depicting mental landscapes and bizarre, monstrous figures with restless abstraction. Updating traditional mural conventions, and playing with graffiti expression and the poetics of space, Herrero paints not only on the outsides of buildings but also the bottoms of swimming pools, the insides of parking garages, freeway underpasses, and buses. In the gallery, his work often extends beyond the boundaries of the canvas in a seeming stream of consciousness. His giddy use of brilliant color is "polluted" by discreet detailed drawings in pen and marker that violate what would otherwise be a decorative, formal pattern. His works convey a sincere enjoyment of painting as a medium, but they challenge painting's traditional methods and media with elements of play, pleasure, and humor.
Passengers: 1.12
Off-Site | Aug. 12–30, 2008
The Costa Rican artist Federico Herrero makes paintings in unexpected places that behave in unpredictable ways, depicting mental landscapes and bizarre, monstrous figures with restless abstraction. Updating traditional mural conventions, and playing with graffiti expression and the poetics of space, Herrero paints not only on the outsides of buildings but also the bottoms of swimming pools, the insides of parking garages, freeway underpasses, and buses. In the gallery, his work often extends beyond the boundaries of the canvas in a seeming stream of consciousness. His giddy use of brilliant color is "polluted" by discreet detailed drawings in pen and marker that violate what would otherwise be a decorative, formal pattern. His works convey a sincere enjoyment of painting as a medium, but they challenge painting's traditional methods and media with elements of play, pleasure, and humor.