Pedro S. de Movellán
Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino is pleased to present Pedro S. de Movellán: Zephyr, the gallery's second solo exhibition for contemporary artist Pedro S. de Movellán [b. 1967, USA], in our upstairs project room. This exhibition features a selection of the artist's recent kinetic sculptures.
De Movellán draws upon the influences of his architect father and abstract painter mother in the creation of his sculptures, which perfectly balance both parents' influences in their precise construction and their refined and detailed, yet unpredictable, movements. Employing great technical mastery, de Movellán designs outdoor, tabletop, and hanging sculptures set into motion by wind and touch, inspired by those elements in nature which are subject to the movements of air, including the weather, birds, and trees. In an era where artists fluctuate between different media – often times rendering themselves unrecognizable from one series to the next – he has achieved an unmistakable style. Remarkably – though unintentionally – de Movellán’s biggest influence is often himself. Like many contemporary artists, he is absorbed by new technology and constantly experimenting with materials and the machines that shape them.
This exhibition especially highlights the artist's return to incorporating wood into his sculptures after an 18-year hiatus from the material. As de Movellán states,
"When I first began my journey into kinetic art, I was moving from furniture making and boat building. My extensive use of various types of wood felt right to me. The warmth and often highly figured pieces of wood were a beautiful contrast to the cool, hard edges of the metal I used."
This contrast of textures belies a deeper dichotomy: the living nature of wood, which still bears its "aliveness" even after it is cut and shaped, versus the inanimate nature of metal. The artist and the wood share a kinship in their "aliveness." Working with the wood, de Movellán "feel[s] a connection directly to it. Versus working with aluminum, or stainless steel, or brass. Here, the connection is more through the machine that is carrying out the cut of the material. It is a more cerebral connection. With wood, it is more visceral. All that being said, the use of metals has defined the work that I do. The sense of precision, accuracy, and proportion has been possible through this means." De Movellán's work invites us to meditate on this interplay of opposites - warmth and coolness, living and inanimate, cerebral and visceral, precision and unpredictability - and their mutual indispensability.
Opening reception with the artist: Thursday, October 19, 6-8PM Exhibition dates: October 19 - December 22, 2023
