Spotlight: Artist Mareo Rodriguez Imagines a Natural World in Constant Motion

Artist Mareo Rodriguez, 2022. Courtesy of the artist.

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About the Artist: Mexico-born, Barcelona-based artist Mareo Rodriguez explores topography and geography as living matters that exist in continuous states of transformation. “Portals,” the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York, recently opened at A.M. Bjiere and features eight paintings, four sculptures, and a site-specific experiential installation. Rodriguez’s works are large-scale, made in a palette consisting largely of black, white, gold, and copper. The works make references to natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, tectonic plate shifts, and lightning storms.

Why We Like It: Rodriguez’s artworks speak to a natural world as being constantly in flux, with forces pushing and pulling against each other. Seemingly engaging forces of inertia and entropy, the works are marked by fractures, with craggy shapes calling to mind mountains or icebergs. Rather than seeming ominous or destructive, the works suggest portals, openings of light or darkness that are gateways to be realities.

According to the Artist: “With this exhibition, I wanted to create something new that I had never done before, and not feel limited by the conventions of my past installations. The unique gallery architecture presented an opportunity to expand my sculptural practice, but the innate viewer immersion at this scale challenged me to consider perceptual experience more mechanically.”

Browse works by the artist below.