This Sunday the 23rd August will see the installation and unveiling of Mexican artist Rivelino’s monumental sculpture You on King Charles Island in Trafalgar Square. This will be the first in a series of high-profile unveilings of contemporary Mexican sculpture across the capital this September, coinciding with the celebratory Dual Year of UK and Mexico 2015 mexicouk2015.mx.
Rivelino You, 2015 Cast bronze coated in white paint 2.2 x 14.5 x 1.7 m 25 tonnes King Charles Island, Trafalgar Square
Contemporary Mexican Sculpture: The Vision of Four Artists is a unique exhibition of new large-format sculpture in volcanic stone, bronze and resin by celebrated sculptors Yvonne Domenge (b.1946), Jorge Yazpik (b.1955), Paloma Torres (b. 1960) and José Rivelino (b.1973), representing four successive generations of Mexican artists here in London.
The four monumental works will be placed in various locations across the capital, and will sit against the backdrop of some of London’s most iconic landmarks. Rivelino’s colossal 25-ton sculpture You will take centre stage in King Charles Island in Trafalgar Square. Here two index fingers, equal in weight, colour and size point towards each other in commanding fashion. Intended as a reflection on human equality, the two pointing fingers are seen from afar as distinct entities; but through engaging in the intervening space between the fingers, the viewer opens up a dialogue of inclusivity.
Rivelino comments:
“In a world that is self-evidently unequal, ‘You’ calls upon viewers to question their attitude towards the highly significant issue of equality between human beings.”
Contemporary Mexican Sculpture will be the first group exhibition of large format Mexican sculpture in the capital, and is the result of a unique collaboration between Nuri Contreras Martret, Director of Art4, Latin American Art specialist Katrinka Wood and the Mexican Embassy in the UK. The project has been realised with the generous support of the artists, Art4 and Lodgeo (lodgeo.com).
With thanks to the Mexican Embassy in the UK, the Mayor of London, Westminster City Council, Sir George Iacobescu, the Canary Wharf Group, and Iain Michael Brunt of Gone Modern for their kind assistance with this exhibition.
About the artist
José Rivelino Moreno Valle, known artistically as Rivelino, was born in 1973 in Jalisco, Mexico. Widely exhibited, Rivelino has participated in more than 60 group exhibitions and 35 solo shows both in Mexico and abroad. He gained international acclaim with Nuestros Silencios (Our Silences), a monumental sculptural installation sculpture which toured in nine European cities, and in 2010, exhibited at the Mexican Pavilion at Shanghai Expo.
Rivelino has found the urban landscape to be a fertile setting for engaging the public, stimulating dialogue and playing upon the notion of collective memory. Inspired by key contemporary issues, Rivelino’s work seeks to liberate through form, the public’s perception of the real and surreal, the tangible and intangible.
#MXSculptureLDN; #MXUK2015
