Ambitious artist Pedro Reyes looks to Ancient Greek art in a new solo exhibition at Dallas Contemporary, in an attempt to create new links between sculpture and the society it inhabits.
In the past, Reyes, who trained as an architect, has addressed gun culture in his native Mexico (in 2008 and in 2012 he worked with local government to melt firearms, using the metal to build shovels for planting trees and musical instruments) and the social problems endemic in cities, such as stress and loneliness. Now, he looks for new arches between his artistic practice and the world we live in by contemplating the connection between Greek statues and philosophy – paying tribute to history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Socrates and Epicurus.
Curated by Justine Ludwig, 'For Future Reference' continues to explore space as a way of opening up the possibilities that can improve human communication and understanding. Among the new and recent works on show include Plato’s Cave. In response to the philosopher’s allegory about our perception of reality, Reyes has rendered the cave as an architectural space. Elsewhere, he has worked with stone and marble to create sculptures that translate the ideas into material form: Colloquium is a tower made of interlocking speech bubbles reflecting on the co-existence of ideas within a single structure.
In a further series produced for the museum, Reyes revisits found materials, sourcing photographic images of statuary from different periods and places, printing them on to cloth, cutting them to size and assembling them on canvas – a kind of timeline of references that juxtaposes the ancient and the modern to construct something for posterity. As Reyes has stated previously: 'If something is dying, becoming rotten and smelly, I think there is a chance to make a compost in which this vast catalog of solutions can be mixed in an entirely new way.'
The exhibition looks for new arches between his artistic practice and the world we live in by contemplating the connection between Greek statues and philosophy – paying tribute to history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Socrates and Epicurus
Curated by Justine Ludwig, 'For Future Reference' continues to explore space as a way of opening up the possibilities that can improve human communication and understanding
INFORMATION
'For Future Reference' is on view until 18 December. For more information, visit the Dallas Contemporary website
ADDRESS
Dallas Contemporary
161 Glass Street
Dallas, TX 75207
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede's album coversBrett Anderson talks cover art, photography and iconic imagery
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s ParkTwenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhoodTschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in SwedenWanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
-
Pino Pascali’s brief and brilliant life celebrated at Fondazione PradaMilan’s Fondazione Prada honours Italian artist Pino Pascali, dedicating four of its expansive main show spaces to an exhibition of his work
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group showLismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine SouthGerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
-
Dallas Art Fair 2024: what to seeThe Dallas Art Fair celebrates galleries in the U.S Southwest. This year artists share a penchant for wide open spaces and a focus on the natural world. Here are our highlights
