ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

LnS GALLERY presents ARCIMBOLDO’S GHOSTS, a visual treasure hunt alighting heart and intellect by Cuban-born, American artist Arturo Rodríguez, one of Miami’s most prominent and achieved artists. Visitors will feast sensorially through his work on Saturday, November 17 for an opening reception. A full-color catalog of artworks on exhibit will be presented with the show featuring essays by two special guest contributors: art historian, professor, and author Alejandro Anreus, Ph.D., as well as art curator, critic, and journalist Lilly Wei.

The series contemplates the muniments of art history, responding with “a love letter to painting” as described by Alejandro Anreus, which layers story upon story, painting within painting; applying the very medium to overtly reinterpret the visual poetry of Masters in homage to their influence, always with a focus on the universal theme of “displacement.”

The style of the series’ titular inspiration – the 16th century Italian Mannerist painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo – is effectively incorporated in the portraiture of human forms represented in imaginative natural images such as flowers, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Rodríguez tropicalizes Arcimboldo’s traditional still-life elements by substituting the flora of his birthplace and the arsenal of his profound exploration of art history. “At first glance they all seem whimsical, playful, but underneath the depth of the human condition can be sensed; tragedy and comedy, nothingness and meaning encountered and balanced in our existence… Homage and parody are knitted together in these poetic evocations, which of course are very much a part of the tradition of painting in Europe and the Americas,” Alejandro Anreus writes of the series. In echoing the satirical, clever nature of Arcimboldo, Rodríguez’s resulting work speaks to one of art’s crucial purposes in service of humanity.

“He invests his figuration with borrowings from other images, overtly so, creating not only a visually compelling hybrid, but also one that represents a dense and layered history of art that is personal, idiosyncratic,” writes Lilly Wei. Formative influences such as Cézanne’s The Bather, Diane Arbus’ Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, and Courbet’s self-portrait and servant with walking sticks from The Encounter connect us to the essence of their expressive intention as Rodríguez concurrently develops the concepts within, advancing each narrative, folding those stories into his own prolific story. “It’s a visual treasure hunt to find them and identify the sources, challenging and engaging the viewer” adds Wei.