In this series, Rico abstracts formal mathematical elements, both in material and composition, to create a space of boundless artistic freedom. “V from the series - The Poller and Exactor of Fees” contains a golden brass square root symbol and a question mark composed of a plastic toy tomato and a wooden curve. His use of golden brass illustrates the divinity of, and enlightenment created through, mathematical equations. The plastic tomato reinforces his resistance to the rigidity of mathematical elements, which is further emphasized by the imagined algebraic equation within the square root symbol. He ties together ink, stone, and plastic to question the construction of mathematical symbolism.
 

Gabriel Rico

Gabriel Rico was born in 1980 in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexicao, and now lives and works in Guadalajara, Mexicao.

Describing himself as an “ontologist with a heuristic methodology,” Rico interrelates found objects and materials, reworking them to create sculptures that invite the viewer to reflect on the relationship between human beings and their natural environment. He sometimes uses neon, ceramics, taxidermy mounts, branches of trees, and even more personal objects from his own past to create an equation or formulation, achieving a precise geometry in spite of the unwieldy organic nature of his materials. His installations combine natural and anti-natural forms, handled poetically and ironically, with an insistence on the necessary contemplation of their asymmetry, as well as of our own cultural and political defects.

Rico has recently exhibited his work at museums and galleries around the world, including the Beiqiu Museum of Contemporary Art in Nanjing and Black Cube in Denver in 2022, the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Diego, Perrotin in New York, and the Galería OMR in Mexico City in 2021, and Perrotin in Paris in 2020. His work was included in the 58th Venice Biennale and is part of the Korean Ceramic Foundation (KOCEF), among others.
 

Lender: Galerie Perrotin