YOUR SHOES WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY TODAY
HERMES BERRIO SOLO EXHIBITION
APRIL 1 TO 29 2023
BREACH GALLERY PRESENTS, “YOUR SHOES WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY TODAY”, A SOLO EXHIBITION FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTIST HERMES BERRIO. THIS IS THE SECOND SOLO SHOW FOR THE ARTIST AT BREACH AND FEATURES NEW PAINTINGS THAT CONTINUE BERRIO’S EXPLORATION OF EVERYDAY MOMENTS AND THE BEAUTY FOUND WITHIN THESE SNAPSHOTS OF LIFE.
FOR THIS EXHIBITION, THE ARTIST DELVES INTO THE UNEXPECTED, PRESENTING STUDIES OF SEEMINGLY MUNDANE SCENES WITH A FOCUSED ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND FEELING. EACH COMPOSITION COMMUNICATES WITH MOVEMENT AND LIFE, WITH INTENTIONAL APPLICATION OF DRIPPING PAINT AND EXPRESSIVE GESTURES ON MIXED MEDIA. THE TEXTURES OF THE CANVAS REFLECT THE DEPTH OF IMPORTANCE THAT BERRIO FINDS WITHIN THESE COMMONPLACE MOMENTS. CONDIMENTS SIT ON A CHILD’S BREAKFAST TABLE, DOGS RELAX WITH SOMEONE ON A COUCH, AND CHILDREN WITH THEIR PARENTS IDLE AT AN AMUSEMENT PARK. EACH PAINTING CONVEYS A DEDICATION TO THE SIMPLICITY OF THE SCENE, AND CONJURES A REVERENCE FOR THE FAMILIAR. WITH THE EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY TO DEFINE A SENSE OF THE PRESENT, BERRIO CREATES WORLDS STEEPED IN AUTHENTICITY AND TRUTH.
FROM THE ARTIST
PARENTHOOD HAS SHOWN ME HOW THE QUOTIDIAN CAN OFTEN CONTAIN SOMETHING INCITING AND UNEXPECTED. A COMMONPLACE OF THE WORLD AROUND ME, FULL OF MOMENTS OF INTRIGUE, ENTANGLEMENT AND BEAUTY. THROUGH THE PENSIVE ACT OF OBSERVATION, I FIND MYSELF DOCUMENTING AND TRANSFORMING THESE EVERYDAY INSTANCES AND PORTRAYING THEM INTO ILLUSORY, SIMPLE, PERSONABLE PICTURES.
WITH A DRAMATIC AND DIRECT STYLE, EMBEDDED WITH MIXED MEDIA, UTILIZING MATERIALS RANGING FROM ACRYLIC AND AEROSOL, TO TEXTILES AND GOLD LEAF; COMBINING FIGURES FROM POPULAR CULTURE AND EVERYDAY LIFE, I NOW RETAIN THESE UNUSUAL AND YET COMMONPLACE EXPERIENCES. REACHING BEYOND THE SIMPLICITY OF SUCH FUNDAMENTAL AND EPHEMERAL HAPPENINGS, BY EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITY OF THESE SIMPLE MOMENTS, EACH PICTURE IS A DEEPLY PERSONAL SNAPSHOT COMPRISING A DEAR MEMORY, SUBLIMELY LAYING OUT PERSPECTIVES THAT FEEL UNIVERSAL AND UNPRETENTIOUS.
HERMES BERRÍO (B. 1980, COLOMBIA), RECEIVED HIS BFA FROM NYU IN 2005, AND IS CURRENTLY BASED IN MIAMI. IN 2018 AND 2022 HE WAS AWARDED A GRANT FROM THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION AND IN 2019 FROM THE RUTH AND HAROLD CHENVEN FOUNDATION. HE HAS BEEN A FOUNTAINHEAD STUDIO ARTIST RESIDENT SINCE MAY 2019. IN RECENT YEARS, HE HAS PARTICIPATED IN GROUP AND SOLO EXHIBITIONS AROUND THE WORLD FOR GALLERIES AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE U.S. AND COLOMBIA, SPAIN, GERMANY, MEXICO, AUSTRALIA, AND CANADA.
