SUPERESTRELLAS

BUIA Gallery is pleased to announce Superestrellas, the debut New York solo exhibition of artist Jaime Gili. Venezuelan by birth, London-based Royal College MA artist Jaime Gili transforms the gallery white cube into a contemporary interpretation of Latin American Geometric Abstraction with a street flare. Plastering one wall of the gallery with black and white posters and smaller vibrant works and then placing a precise, transmutative installation of large-scale works leaned against the columns of the gallery, Gili creates a labyrinthine pathway into a Pop Culture/Mass Culture, Futurism grounded abstraction.Looking at Venezuelan Modernism, and Latin American Modernism in general, Gili considers geometric abstraction as seen through contemporary urban eyes. Distinctly anti Postmodernism, Gili believes that Modernism entails working together, moving forward, and accessing modes of visual representation that reinforce social mass communication. Infusing this more academic interest with a touch of graffiti’s sensibility and ethos, Gili brings energy and innovation to the discourse. Interested in the power of repetition and movement, earlier series by Gili involved semi-abstract interpretations of car doors and airplanes, while the new body of work has developed into highly abstract, multi-layered ‘star bursts’ of hard edge geometric abstraction. Made in varying color schemes and compositions, these works translate an interest in Futurism’s capturing of movement on a static picture plane and an at least partial alignment with early Constructivism’s desire to create art as an instrument for social purposes. A distinct optimism and effusive energy abound in Gili’s presentation and a highly contemporary sense of Modernism explodes forth.Jaime Gili was born in Caracas, Venezuela where he began his visual studies. He then moved on to Barcelona to the Universidad de Barcelona where he earned his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in Fine Arts before ultimately moving to London to receive a Masters from the Royal College of Art. Recent exhibitions include the 6th Annual Biennial of Mercosul in Porta Alegre in Brazil, Desconfia at the University of California, and the highly successful Indica show at Riflemaker in London. In 2005 Jaime Gili caused traffic chaos in London`s Oxford Street with the 700,000 triangular pieces he installed in Selfridges store windows. In 2006, he created the six-mile Ruta Rota (broken route), an installation of buses from Southwark Cathedral in the South to St.Paul`s in the East. Recent press includes reviews in Artforum, The Times, Frieze, Time Out, and ArtPapers. We are very pleased to announce Jaime Gili’s debut New York solo exhibition.