DE SALTOS Y TROPIEZOS – LUIS ROLDÁN AND BERNARDO ORTÍZ EXHIBIT AT CASAS RIEGNER

Paintings, objects and sculptures by Luis Roldán are carefully interwoven in the exhibition space with drawings on fabric and paper by Bernardo Ortíz. Far from respecting a linear order, the disposition of the works in space is sensed as a series of visual leaps, where scale, color and technical variations, lead the spectator through a visual and material journey distinguished by poetic accents and subtleties. On the one hand, Roldán’s work underlines the importance the artist’s manual skill in relation to discipline— a virtue that for many has become a lifesaver in the midst of global pandemic— while also celebrating his exploration of abstraction through painting and found objects. Ortíz’s work, on the other hand, brings forth his renewed interest in the visual and conceptual qualities of text and in the use of fragile supports in works that highlight the significance of carefully contained and painstaking craftsmanship.

De saltos y tropiezos is a live exhibition that will continue to be nurtured as time progresses. With the sole purpose of lacking a sense of linearity and coherence akin to that of artistic processes and life itself, the show aims to provoke a variety of readings around the themes of loneliness and encounter

Luis Roldán (Cali, 1955) studied Architecture at the Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá and Etching and Art History in Paris.

Luis Roldán's interests are related to the exploration of abstract painting, its materials, structures and final appearance. Using a wide range of media and supports, he presents an experimental and objectual review of the pictorial gesture. Incorporating different methodologies and techniques, Roldán creates links between literary, poetic or musical references and his research on the color, surface and support of painting.

Bernardo Ortiz (Cali, 1972) studied Art and Literature at the Universidad de los Andes en Bogotá and Philosophy at the Universidad Del Valle in Cali.

For Ortiz, the "page" acts as a material support but also as a discursive space in which design, drawing and writing merge. In general, this medium is intervened in seemingly minimal and subtle ways: with lines of hard-tipped pencils; with thin layers of gouache, oil and enamel; using words and phrases that, extracted from poems, song lyrics or literary pieces, establish an uncomfortable relationship between the format and the media he uses. All of his formal strategies hint at the passage of time while raising questions about that complex territory called "surface" or "page."