Alvaro Urbano

HE WOULD ALWAYS LEAVE A WINDOW OPEN, EVEN AT NIGHT.
2016

Gerðarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum
That Time | Þá
27 October - 18 December 2016 | 27. október - 18. desember 2016

Alvaro Urbano's work He would always leave the window open, even at night (2016) invokes a chance fiction, the beginning of a narrative rendered physical, the appearance of debris that rightfully belongs to a different storyline whose realism has produced a surplus in the form of fallen leaves blown in by a wind. Leaves are strewn across the floor of the gallery as though they had entered the building through a window or a door left ajar, inviting the botanical, the natural, the compostable to cross into the museal realm. These leaves however are handpainted, made of metal, and trace their origin to Urbano's Berlin studio—Iceland's flat and rugged vegetation being famously devoid of trees. Much like in an Icelandic joke ("What do you do when you are lost in an Icelandic forest? You stand up"), reality and fiction are a question of perspective and (dis-)belief. The Icelandic forest doesn't exist, but you can nevertheless get lost in it. The work's title echoes an obsession of the artist's father as described by Urbano; in the context of the exhibition That Time, the illusory open window creates a metaphorical institutional breeze, a breathing space. While Urbano's work references time and nature, the metal leaves themselves, marking the nooks and crannies of the building, will not decompose, although they might get lost.

Verk Alvaros Urbano He would always leave the window open, even at night (2016) skírskotar til tilviljunarkennds skáldskaps, upphaf sögu sem gerð er fýsísk, birtingu brota sem tilheyra réttilega annarri sögulínu, þar sem raunveruleikinn hefur framkallað afurð í formi fallinna laufa sem fjúka í vindinum. Laufunum er dreift yfir gallerígólfið, eins og þau hafi blásið inn í bygginguna í gegnum glugga eða hurð sem hafa verið skilin eftir opin og boðið grasafræðinni, því náttúrulega og rotnandi að koma inn á safnsvæðið. Laufin eru afturámóti handmáluð, gerð úr málmi og eiga uppruna sinn í Berlínarvinnustofu Urbanos—þar sem Ísland er þekkt fyrir lágvaxinn og hrjúfan gróður og trjáþurrð. Eins og í íslenska brandaranum: (“Hvað gerir maður ef maður týnist í íslenskum skógi? Stendur upp”), þá eru raunveruleiki og skáldskapur spurning um sjónarhorn og (van- )trú. Íslenski skógurinn er ekki til, en maður getur samt týnst í honum. Titill verksins er tilvitnun í þráhyggju föður listamannsins, eða eins og Urbano lýsir: í samhengi sýningarinnar That Time, þá skapar tálsýnin, hinn opni gluggi, myndgervingu fyrir gjólu stofnunarinnar, andrýmið. Verk Urbanos vísar í tíma og náttúru, málmlaufin sjálf leita í einkenni og form byggingarinnar, þau munu ekki rotna, þó þau gætu týnst.

Alvaro Urbano is an artist based in Berlin. Urbano works with different media, making spatial installations, film and performance. After his degree at the Architecture School in Madrid, he completed his studies at the Institut für Raumexperimente (Professor Ólafur Elíasson), Universität der Künste Berlin. His solo projects and exhibitions include Dead Men Tell no Tales, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2016); More than Real at Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (2015); The Ghost and the Host, Pavillon Social Kunstverein, Lucca (2014); Utopias are for Birds, Chert Gallery, Berlin (2012). Group exhibitions include Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow (2016); Art and Nature: Walking with Senses, Merano (2016); SUPERSUPERSTUDIO, PAC, Milan (2016); WLGTDWI, S.A.L.T.S  Basel (2015); Trouble in Paradise, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn (2015); ALPINA HUUS–House of Deep Transformation in 11 Acts, Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2014). Future Nows at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2014). In 2014, Urbano received the Villa Romana Prize. Alvaro was artist in residence at Inhabitation at the Villa Empain Fondation Boghosian in Brussels and in 2017 will be part of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture Residency program in Los Angeles.

Alvaro Urbano er listamaður með aðsetur í Berlín. Alvaro vinnur með ólíka miðla, víðáttumiklar innsetningar, kvikmyndir og sýningar. Eftir námsgráðu við The Architecture School í Madrid, hélt hann til Institut für Raumexperimente við Universität der Künste í Berlin og lauk námi sínu þar undir handleiðslu prófessors Ólafs Elíassonar. Einkasýningar og verk hans eru meðal annars; Dead Men Tell no Tales við Kölnischer Kunstverein í Köln (2016), More than Real við Bundeskunsthalle í Bonn (2015), The Ghost and the Host við Pavillon Social Kunstverein í Lucca (2014), Utopias are for Birds við Chert Gallery í Berlín (2012). Af samsýningum má nefna: Moscow International Biennale for Young Art Í Moskvu (2016), Art and Nature: Walking with Senses í Merano (2016), SUPERSUPERSTUDIO. PAC í Mílanó (2016), WLGTDWI at S.A.L.T.S.  í Basel (2015), Trouble in Paradise við Bundeskunsthalle í Bonn (2015), ALPINA HUUS - House of Deep Transformation in 11 Acts - við Schinkel Pavillon í Berlín (2014), Future Nows við the Neue Nationalgalerie í Berlín (2014). Árið 2016 verður Alvaro staðarlistamaður við Inhabitation hjá Villa Empain Fondation Boghosian í Brüssel og árið 2017 mun hann vera staðarlistamaður við MAK Center  for Art and Architecture Residency program í Los Angeles. Alvaro Urbano hlaut verðlaunin Villa Romana Prize árið 2014.