Alejandro Cardenas

Almine Rech London is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent works by Alejandro Cardenas, simultaneously on view with José Lerma's first solo exhibition Guerras Tibias.

In his new show titled Ravine 23, the Chilean artist Alejandro Cárdenas takes us on a journey where he critically expands on his signature subject matter: The avoidance of overdetermination on the basis of a single meaning, movement, or style. In his delicate crafting of apparently intimate scenes inhabited by humanoid beings, Cárdenas presents us with a new body of work that is eerily familiar as well as visually provocative. As in previous projects, Cárdenas thinks through possibilities of working with space as a symbol, and, in this specific case, of the ravine as the background of a narrative on resilience and creativity.

—Julián Sánchez González, PhD Candidate in Art History, Columbia University

The paintings and sculptures realized by Alejandro Cardenas (b. 1977, Santiago, Chile) provide a vision of a post-human world wherein the relationship between human forms and the environment is one of unity and coexistence. Guided by his own imagination and inspired by a wide variety of influences ranging from Surrealism to Sci-Fi to magical realism, Cardenas immerses himself in the creation of surreal, post-human scenes of polished, gridded interiors populated by eerie, angular figures. Cardenas' unique approach to figuration places his signature humanoids—narrow, wire-frame silhouettes wrapped in colorful patterns of zigzagging lines—calmly reclining, sitting, or standing within minimalist architectural environments. Unlike us, these faceless humanoids appear to lack all sensory organs, yet they are not deprived of their sensorial abilities. Instead, they convey emotion through body language, resulting in a wide variety of suggested emotional expression.

Alejandro Cardenas completed his BFA at the Cooper Union School of Art in 2000. Before becoming a full time studio painter, Cardenas had a successful career as a multimedia artist, working in illustration, graphic design, and videography. For over a decade, Cardenas served as the lead textile designer and art director for the influential fashion label Proenza Schouler. He was also a founding member of Lansing-Dreiden, a New York-based transdisciplinary art collective that produced musical albums, a literary journal, and artworks. Reviews of his art and design projects have appeared in the New York Times, Vogue, AnOther Magazine, and more.

Alejandro Cardenas currently lives and works in upstate New York.