Earlier this year, Houston-based artist Dario Robleto was invited to participate in the National Gallery of Art’s (NGA) Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) residency program as its first Visiting Guest Artist.
Founded in 1979, CASVA is dedicated to the study of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film. It supports this research through fellowships, programming, and publications. Traditionally fellowships are offered to individuals who hold a PhD or are doctoral candidates.
Dario Robleto
Mr. Robleto, who holds a BFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio, is the first non-PhD-holding artist to be awarded a fellowship. He is using his time to conduct research in support of his artistic practice. Through the fellowship, Mr. Robleto has had the opportunity to complete work on a film that was commissioned by NGA. The new work will debut as part of an exhibition in May 2025. Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World is a collaboration between the NGA and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The exhibition looks at how art played an important role during the 16th and 17th-century study of natural history.
Mr. Robleto told Glasstire, “Until We Are Forged: Hymns for the Elements is a 45-minute, ultra-high-definition video with a dynamic 5.1 surround sound soundtrack. The video explores the work of the 16th-century Flemish artist and naturalist Joris Hoefnagel. It focuses on a rarely seen manuscript of watercolors called Ignis, which is considered the first artistic compendium of insects in European history. The video includes site-specific filming, historical footage, original animations, and special effects, and involves collaboration with curators and conservators at the NGA and scientists at the NMNH.”
Dario Robleto, “Small Crafts on Sisyphean Seas,” 2017, cut and polished nautilus shells, various cut and polished seashells, various urchin spines and teeth, mushroom coral, green and white tusks, squilla claws, butterfly wings, colored pigments and beads, colored crushed glass and glitter, dyed mica flakes, pearlescent paint, cut paper, acrylic domes, brass rods, colored mirrored Plexiglas, glue, maple, 75 x 71 1/2 x 43 inches. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of the Collectors Committee. 2024.5.1
This commission will be the fourth work by Mr. Robleto that was acquired by the NGA this year. In May, the museum purchased three sculptural pieces, including Small Crafts on Sisyphean Seas, which has been installed in one of the NGA’s Dutch galleries in its West Building. In a press release, the museum explained, “Small Crafts on Sisyphean Seas resonates with our growing collection of objects intended for early modern European kunstkammers — collector’s rooms filled with art, artifacts, books, and specimens of flora, fauna, and geology.”
Mr. Robleto’s fellowship will conclude at the end of November. Learn more about Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World via the NGA’s website.
