November 18 - January 8, 2023
From Assembly:
“Assembly is pleased to present Creatures of the Grind, an exhibition of new works by Rodrigo Valenzuela, guest curated by art historian, writer, and curator Paula Kupfer. About the exhibition, Kupfer writes:
“Once knives and screws and drill bits, rope and chains—the tools of many trades—they appear here reconfigured as phoenixes, ramshackle sculptures, animistic creatures of dreams that are both latent objects for political struggle and formidable, animal-like apparitions. These works from Rodrigo Valenzuela’s most recent Weapons series are part of the artist’s ongoing investigation into issues of labor. Through a patina of nostalgic fantasy, they offer views of the imaginative performance that might take place on the job site once laborers depart.
Works from the artist’s previous series, Afterwork, present somber, silvery rooms filled with peculiar machines and smoke, possibly the sweat left hanging in the air after a long day’s work. In Weapons, Valenzuela proposes a more surrealist and metaphysical dimension. In Afterwork, the implements of daily toil reassemble, seemingly of their own devising, into zoomorphic creatures that are more than the sum of their parts. With haunting presence, they occupy the center stage of large-scale photographs with mural-like composition.””
Reception: November 18, 2022 | 6–8 pm
4411 Montrose Boulevard, Suite F
Houston, 77006 Texas
(713) 485-5510
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