Alberto Borea

We are pleased to present “We’re all gone”, the third solo exhibition of Alberto Borea at Y Gallery. Continuing with his researches about urban identity and contemporary material culture the artist presents this time 8 sculptures made in 2014. In these recent works Borea, from the position of an “archeologist of the contemporary” rescues materials and used objects that he considers “residues of civilization“such as a cage, a mat, a bottle, etc. These artifacts undergoing a creative process that results in innovative comments on the artist´s ideas about the dichotomies Ruins vs Progress, permanence vs. transit, identity vs. displacement.

In “We are all gone” a cage broken and open shows the tautness derived from the encounter of the concepts “freedom” and “contention”. The temporary condition of these notions can also be related to the idea of the art practice itself and the transgressions of it.

“Immigration” on the other hand is a sculpture made with a metal cement trowel and wheels that the artist found in Lima. This object is a strong statement about transit, migration, roots and about art as a social and spiritual practice related to people and society.

For “Self portrait” Borea works with the idea of souvenir and global identity. The artist bought this bottle of Pisco at an airport duty free shop and attached a corn broom to it.

The bottle of Pisco with an Inca portrait named Biondi, shows the different layers of cultural information and manipulation, leaving for posterity a new sort of “huaco” or totem.

The transitional nature of existence is an underlying conceptual principle common to all the works in the show. They are the result of a sensitive reaction to the contemporary and its physical expression, manifested in the combination and manipulations of objects leading to new metaphorical artifacts.

Alberto Borea lives and works between New York and Lima. His work is characterized by the continuous displacement and use of diverse media and materials. He attended residencies and fellowships including Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, (Fundacion Cisneros de Patricia de Phelps), Art Omi International Residency 2009, Vermont Studio Center (Jackson Pollock Krasner Fellowship), International Studio and Curatorial Program NYC (ISCP), Sculpture Space, Utica, NY, Default Masterclass in residence, Lecce and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC). Borea's work has been shown in diverse exhibitions in Europe, Latin America and the U.S. including Queens Museum of Art in New York City, Museo del Barrio in New York City, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (Cisneros Fontanals Collection), Dublin Contemporary, MuseoLaboratorio in Italy, Art Museum of the Americas in DC, and Museo de Huelva in Spain.