HECTOR MADERA expertly wields colored masking tape and photo backdrop paper, creating a dizzying environment of pattern and
aggressively bright colors. His masked portraiture, abject
sculpture, neon banners and screen-printed pillows surround the viewer in installations that portray a frantically-fluctuating, unstable rush of emotions. Hector
earned his BFA from Escuela de Artes Plásticas (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
in 2004 and his MFA from Brooklyn College CUNY in 2011. His solo
exhibitions include el pah-‐pay-‐lone (2011) at Metro: Plataforma Organizada and Papo Tiza & Co (2012) at Roberto Paradise, both in San Juan, and, most recently, Shameful acts, disgraceful episodes, grandiose moments, insignificant achievements and everything in between (2015) at Espacio 20/20 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. In 2016, his work will be included in group shows at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago and Brian Morris Gallery in New York and a solo show opening in May at KB Espacio para la cultura in Bogota, Colombia. Hector lives and works in New York.
OtherPeoplesPixels:
Pattern and color has always been a significant part of your practice,
but you really amped that up to 11 in your most recent solo show, Shameful acts, disgraceful episodes, grandiose moments, insignificant achievements and everything in between
(2015) at Espacio 20/20 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. Why is the intensity
of saturated color so important in this body of work? How does it relate
to the title?
Hector Madera: For Shameful acts, disgraceful episodes, grandiose moments, insignificant achievements and everything in between,
I created a body of work that illustrated my mental state at a
particular moment in my career. Through the employment bold and colorful
images, I wanted to achieve an environment where feelings of sadness,
tension, anxiety, disorder, euphoria and happiness—just to mention a
few—were all tangled up, creating a disparate and muddled celebration of
the ups and downs of the everyday life.
OPP: I can certainly see that in the framed smiley/frowny faces.
Could you talk about the floor-installed works? I’m particularly
interested in what looks to be balls of discarded patterned duct tape
and the imagery on the pillows.
HM: These crumbled artworks in a way are rooted in two words inflao and desinflao,
Spanish slang for inflated-deflated. An old friend uses these terms
frequently to describe the feeling of being happy, excited, fulfilled or
frustrated, down, empty. I inflate balloons that then are covered with
layers of tape and ultimately with thick layers of clear acrylic. I make
tiny holes with a pointy object so that the air comes out slowly. As
the air releases, the acrylic hardens, preserving the final crumbled
shape. When developing these artworks, I think about extracting the good
out of bad situations. In many ways, it is an attempt to transform a
discarded object or gesture that represents frustration or failure into
something beautiful, something grand.
The imagery used for the
soft sculptures is a combination of bold graphics and colors mixed with
strippers with voluptuous bodies in sensual positions and digital
drawings in where I recreate psychedelic-hallucinatory-euphoric effects.
These sculptures are closely linked to the strange comfort found in
deliriously indulgent moments.
OPP: When did photo backdrop paper and colored tape
first enter your practice? Why do these materials continue to be
compelling to you after all these years?
HM: I was already
working with masking tape as a way to join single papers together to
create a bigger support to work with. Then, during my MFA years at
Brooklyn College, I decided to replace paint with colored tape. Backdrop
paper showed up a bit later when I first saw the material in a thrift
shop. I was very interested in its color intensity and matte finish. The
paper is sturdy, acid free and fadeless. So, conservation-wise, it made
complete sense to incorporate it into my practice. I first used it to
create sphere-like, crumpled paper sculptures that represented discarded
ideas. Now these paper backdrops have become the support of my
large-scale mixed media collages.
It is my intention to create
compelling works of art in which the presence of paper is part of the
strength of the work. They say we are living in a more and more
paperless society. I like to think that I am defying the perception that
paper is becoming obsolete.
OPP: What role does masking play in your practice in general? Can you also talk specifically about masked portraits like Salvador 2012, untitled 2012 (Rene) and Willem 2012?
HM:
On a trip to Paris I was wandering around the Marche Aux Puces de Saint
Ouen when I saw this book filled with close up portraits of 20th
century masters, Picasso, Matisse, Serra etc. I bought it without
hesitation for only one euro! A little later I decided to pay a double
homage. First I selected the portraits of all the artists whom I had
studied at some point. Then I covered the portraits with a mask design
inspired by Los Super Medicos, my favorite tag team wrestlers when I was young.
In
the masked portraits you mentioned above and in my overall practice the
act of masking is equivalent to the act of painting. Through the
luchador mask, I explore the themes of hiding, filtering and diffusing
in order to have the opportunity to become something else. The wrestler
character works as a great analogy for the life of an artist. He is in a
constant struggle for survival, he can rally from behind to be
victorious or simply end up beaten on the mat.
OPP: You've collaborated with Jose Lerma
on various monumental busts made from photo backdrop paper. How did the
collaboration come about? How did it influence your solo work?
HM:
The collaboration with José started in a very casual way. We are very
good friends and when I moved to New York he was one of the first people
I called. Since then, we were always hanging out, and he became my
mentor. I guess he liked the sculptures that I was making with backdrop
paper, and one night we started talking about making bigger things with
the material and technique. We decided to collaborate for a
works-on-paper show in Chicago. That’s when we collaborated on the Bust of John Law. This triggered all the collaborations we have done.
José's
unique vision, mentorship and friendship has been very important in my
formation as an artist. We share common interests, which influenced my
practice and made our collaboration an effortless one.
OPP: Could you talk about your combination of cartoony vampire teeth and Elizabethan-era ruffled collars in pieces like Papo ca. 1586, Mike ca. 1628 and el primo ca. 1689 (all 2013)?
HM:
These characters are based in real people whom I've met over the years
and who, for one reason or the other, don't live life as everybody else.
They are unique people with unique stories. I have used them in many
different artworks before. In this particular series, I wanted to pay
homage to these everyday characters by creating faceless portraits with
ruff necks. I am interested in the effect the ruff neck creates of
holding the head up high in a very proud and lordly-style pose. The
teeth are inspired in my fascination for vampires and eternal life. In
these works, I’m creating busts or portraits of everyday people,
"unimportant people," the ones with "minor histories.”
OPP:
As you answer these questions, the theme of the underdog is emerging
and now I see it both in your image and material choices. Do you relate
to the archetype of the Underdog?
HM: Totally. I relate to
the underdog. In sports, I always end up rooting for the team, boxer or
player that is labeled as the unlikely winner. My upbringing has a lot
to do with this, and I believe that limitations force you to be
creative. You're forced to try things you would otherwise never have
attempted. . . not only in art, but in life itself.
Featured Artist Interviews are conducted by Chicago-based, interdisciplinary artist Stacia Yeapanis.
When she’s not writing for OPP, Stacia explores the relationship between repetition, desire and impermanence in
cross-stitch embroideries, remix video, collage and impermanent installations. She is
an instructor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at The
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where received her MFA in 2006,
and was a 2012-2013
Mentor-in-Residence at BOLT in Chicago. Her solo exhibitions include I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (2013) at Klemm Gallery, Siena Heights University (Adrian,
Michigan), Everything You Need is Already Here (2014) at Heaven Gallery (Chicago) and When Things Fall Apart,
a durational, collage
installation in the Annex Gallery at Lillstreet Art Center (Chicago). Form Unbound, a two-person show, also featuring the work of Aimée Beaubien, closed in December 2015 at Dominican University's O’Connor Art Gallery (River Forest, IL). Stacia will create a brand new site-responsive installation for SENTIENCE, a group show opening at The Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art on February 5, 2016.