Matias Argañaraz

Real Estate Fine Art is pleased to present Rancio! a solo exhibition of paintings by Matias Argañaraz. Argañaraz’s paintings are kaleidoscopic explorations of the humorous, dark aspects of psychedelia seen through the lens of expressionist painting. The work draws from New York School painters as well as contemporaries like Albert Oehlen, Cheryl von Heyl, and Steve DiBenedetto; however, Argañaraz has his own hilarious manic comic sensibility, and his use of detritus as collage materials (pieces of bandanna, joint roaches, t-shirts, scraps of photos, spilled wine) gives the paintings a sense of the comically rundown and bedraggled. There is something very contemporary in the bleak humor and subdued palettes of these works. They reflect on the glitchy neurotic energy of our time but maintain a murky sense of exuberance in the face of decay and corruption. The title Rancio! references a rich type of fortified wine that is deliberately pungent and has been exposed to the sun for an extended period. An unusual intoxication emerges from overexposure: analogous to Argañaraz’s engagement with the over wrought history of expressionism. The paintings exuberantly push the painterly dialogue forward with a bleak, hilarious take on its attendant problems and their connection to our convoluted moment.