In classical Japanese theatre they perform small plays (the Kyogen), farces presented as interludes full of social popular citricism with comic, hyperbolic and grotesque characters. We can understand some of the works by Javier Aguilera as these Kyogen plays into contemporary sculpture context.

Javier Aguilera's sculpture is narrative. He explains us a story since the characters performed in a deliberate way. His sculptures are also realistic, mixing traditional techniques like ceramics with contemporary materials like polychrome resins. His works sometimes contain actual handmade elements, dolls or wigs as complements to represent a frozen moment, mixing fiction with reality.

His subject shows us human feelings and attitudes from the most dramatic to the most playful ones or even both of them. It also shows us the way these feelings and attitudes are represented in the modern popular iconography. Manga, movie or video game characters are mixed with references to plastic artists, treating them as equals and contextualizing them into an ironic and cruel, funny and brutal world. It is a view of contemporary attitudes and the perplexity of modern people. Aguilera represents daily and immediate things as well as the most popular and mainstream by committed sculptures.

Aguilera uses the aesthetics of the popular Japanese plays from our western point of view. We have gone from the absurd caricature of a Japanese made by Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" of Blake Edwards to teenagers trying to imitate the Japanese aesthetics. He makes a hyperbolic representation of contemporary people by Manga.

This is the new disorting mirrors house at the theme park. Come on in and take a look.

Samuel Salcedo

Abril 2009

Der er fernisering på Akira in my head, torsdag den 7. maj fra kl. 17.00 til 22.00. Udstillingen løber frem til den 6. juni.

Udstillingen er en dobbeltudstilling med Andrew Nygaard

Gallery Poulsen Contemporary Fine Arts
Frederiksholms Kanal 4, st. th. Gården
1220 Kbh. K. Tlf.+45 4015 5588
www.gallerypoulsen.com