Sandra Vásquez de la Horra
12 July – 24 October 2010
Avenue Céramique 250
Maastricht, The Netherlands
T. 00 31 43 32 90 190
info [at] bonnefanten.nl
Sandra Vásquez de la Horra always drew. Her radically figurative drawings are never “beautiful” in the classic sense of the term. They have a rough, immediate quality, a sense of urgency to them. They feature many personal elements. Since 1997, the artist finishes her drawings by dipping them in wax. This treatment gives her work a unique materiality and endows the pencil line with ambiguous depth. Her line is fluid, firm and applied in an unbroken movement. The shapes are often filled in, as if “coloured in” in graphite, in a wide variety of greys and blacks, and sometimes, though rarely, set off by a touch of yellow, pink or red.
Each of her drawings is a work of art in its own right, telling a particular story and revealing a particular soul, but Vásquez de la Horra likes to arrange them to form large wall installations comprising up to a hundred pieces at times of a variety of sizes. Typography is widely present in Sandra Vásquez de la Horra’s work. Many of her drawings combine figure and writing, with the latter changing the import of the picture. Sometimes the artist allows the words to take up most of the space, dominating the motif and becoming the real subject of the drawing.
In relation to her anthropological studies, myths and popular tales are at the centre of the artist’s concerns and provide her with the subject of many drawings. Religion and sex are also major themes in her work. Politics is also an important component in Vásquez de la Horra’s world, although it tends to play a latent role. Vásquez de la Horra also participates in the tradition of a great family of artists, one of whose ancestors are Goya and Redon. Some of her figures, particularly their faces, seem to be a discreet, vibrant tribute to the great ‘master of blacks’.
Interview with the artist
Sunday 12 July, 2 pm
Auditorium of the museum
Sandra Vásquez de la Horra will give an exclusive interview to Alexander van Grevenstein, director of the museum and curator of the show.
Biography
Sandra Vásquez de la Horra was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, in 1967. She transfers at twelve to the Fine Arts Academy of Valparaíso. She moved back to Viña del Mar in 1989 and enrolled in the university to study visual communication and graphic design, with a particular emphasis on typography. In 1995, she leaves for Europe, where for a year in Düsseldorf, she attended classes given by Jannis Kounellis at the Kunstakademie. She returns to Germany in 1999, invited by Rosemarie Trockel to attend her classes. Finally, between 2001 and 2003, she completes her studies at the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne. She lives and works in Germany since then.
Her work has among others been exhibited at Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musem KunstPalast in Düsseldorf, and is present in various public and private collections. Sandra Vásquez was awarded the prestigious Guerlain Prize in 2009. The prize has been the most significant event in her career before her oncoming solo show at the Bonnefantenmuseum.
A catalogue accompanying the show is published by Hatje Cantz. 184 pages, 136 full colour illustrations, English – French – German. Available at the museum shop.
Bonnefantenmuseum
Avenue Céramique 250
Maastricht
T 00 31 43 32 90 190
info@bonnefanten.nl
www.bonnefanten.nl
open Tuesday to Sunday
11 am / 5 pm