Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City (April 5 – August 3, 2014)
Fabiola Torres work-Alzaga has focused on a study of perception, mainly on the analysis of the boundary between the real and the illusory. This has been done through portable devices that alter the perception of space or room with clear references to illusionism and prestidigitation. Among acts for the project, the artist resorts to the movies, and in particular the technique of montage, to articulate a scene that explores the edge of reality and illusion.
A scene from the film Indiscreet (1958) is of prime importance to the centerpiece of this project; specifically one in which the protagonists, Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, seem to share the same bed but they are talking on the phone at a distance. Two people sharing the same bed and communicating even if they are separated: Thanks to the mounting technique used by director Stanley Donen in this film, this space is at once real and illusory.
Torres-Alzaga performs this same maneuver mounting fragments of objects, assisted by a set of mirrors, articulating a coherent and comprehensive scene. A room that is divided in half and separated from the other part is unified in an illusory third space. This illusory space which could be seen as the movie screen, corresponds to a situation “behind the scenes” where a series of drawings and diagrams made by Torres-Alzaga details the production process of this piece.
In addition to this large-scale installation, Entre Acts has several medium-size sculptures made with mirrors and glass where, again, the artist investigates the phenomenon of perception. The volumes of these pieces, in the manner of sets of monoliths, are related to a tradition of post-war sculpture with certain phenomenological interest. Torres-Alzaga emphasizes this intention to cover the phenomenon of perception, particularly to destabilize the boundaries between reality and illusion.
Opening: April 5, 12:00 pm
Please click here for the Museo Universitario del Chopo website
