Leo Eguiarte & Melly Trochez
RITUAL/S
Leo and Melly, who last exhibited at ACE/121 as part of the
Quiet Please Collective show will have a 2-person exhibition of new works.
Opening Reception: November 17, 2018 from 7-10 pm
Exhibit runs through January 5, 2019
ACE/121 Gallery
121 N. Kenwood
Glendale, California 91206
(818) 945-5339
LEO EGUIARTE’s ongoing series delves into a world of symbolism and graphic imagery, reflecting Eguiarte’s interests in signs and everyday ritual. While much of the work suggests esoterism and metaphysical states or landscapes, Eguiarte’s approach is particularly subtle, focusing on the unspoken customs that particular groups or individuals practice daily. As a kind of re-appropriation of what he sees as an already-appropriated point of view of some occultist groups and beliefs, his imagery evolves out of any concrete attachment to belief or practice, and enters into a meticulous and precise graphic world with simple vocabularies. His circuit panel series strives toward a kind of streamlined perfection: symmetrical lines, patterned dots, concentric circles, prisms and a consistently limited color scheme of magenta, pink and turquoise that allow for infinite variations on a theme.
MELLY TROCHEZ’s work deals specifically with rituals: activities that are passed on culturally through generations that become embedded in notions of identity. Particularly interested in observing – and often commenting on – standards of beauty in Latina culture, Trochez’s larger format acrylic paintings depict characters from her own life (sometimes even herself) participating in beautifying routines: ironing and bleaching hair, applying sunblock, mirror gazing – many rituals that become unconscious, those that we forget why we even began doing them. Comments made when we were younger, images seen during developing years, advice and critique passed down through generations become an everyday practice. Trochez is pointing at these through her depictions that carry the cultural focus to an image. In doing so, she highlights these rituals and brings them into question – a question that feels more like curiosity, or a simple noticing, rather than outward critique or commentary.
In their first shared exhibition, Eguiarte and Trochez have chosen to collaborate on a work together throughout the course of the exhibition. By sharing the development of a single artwork as part of their exhibition, the two artists will create and confront their own ritual/s in real time in the space of the ACE/121 Gallery.
RITUAL/S Opening Reception: November 17, 2018 from 7-10 pm
Exhibit runs through January 5, 2019
Made possible with funding from the California Arts Council and The Eisner Foundation.
ACE/121 is a Meta Housing community.
