Ricardo Barros: Facing Sculpture
Sep 1, 2007 – Jan 13, 2008 (opening reception, Thursday, Sep 6)
I first met Ricardo Barros on August 4, 1999, when he came to DeCordova Museum
to show his recent body of photographic portraits to me and our Director of Curatorial Affairs, Rachel Rosenfield Lafo. We had not known Ricardo or his work prior to this visit, but our curiosity was piqued by his subject matter —contemporary sculptors. This was a community we knew well—our combined experience with modern and contemporary outdoor sculpture exceeded, at that point, twenty-five years. Our interest was also sharpened because Ricardo had mentioned the names of some of his sitters over the telephone, and we knew many of them personally. I was most impressed by what we saw that day. Ricardo's photographs were imaginative and engaging, carefully composed, formally rewarding, and masterfully printed. The portraits of sculptors with whom I had worked closely were both psychologically honest and complex, and the images of artists whom I knew only by reputation, or knew not at all, were immediately intriguing. These photographs instilled a desire to meet these sculptors, and to see their work.
Barros's portraits of contemporary sculptors are sensitive, personal meditations, worlds away from the market-driven image-consciousness that repeatedly puts forth the posturing of celebrity artists. His photographs result from a creative approach to portraiture dependent upon the web of complex relationships among the sculptor, the sculptor's work, and the work of the photographer. His process is based neither on an imposition of preconceptions, nor an overlay of ego, but on a sensitive, intuitive collaboration that yields a wide variety of images. Ricardo's portraits have no "style," no "look,” but are individual artworks that reveal an open and honest regard for sculptors, and a desire to construct poetic images. The best of these photographs draw forth aspects of the sculptors' personalities that most closely inform their work, the psychological space between sculptor and sculpture.
Facing Sculpture is a loving and humanistic tribute to art, creativity, and risk. In a rich interpretive dialogue, Barros' photographs address and enmesh two layers of human expressive endeavor: sculpture and photography. They also insistently reveal the human presence behind the work of art, and illuminate the extraordinary individuals who happen to communicate more clearly and effectively with objects than with words.
The artists represented in Facing Sculpture include both internationally renowned sculptors, and sculptors who live and work in the New England region, photographed in their homes, studios, and exhibition spaces. Many of the artists have been included in DeCordova exhibitions, and others have shown work in the outdoor Sculpture Park.
This exhibition is accompanied by the book Facing Sculpture, a Portfolio of Portraits, Sculpture, and Related Ideas.
Nick Capasso
Curator
Ricardo Barros will present an Artist Talk and book signing on Saturday, October 6 at 3 pm.
Image: Ricardo Barros, Paul Matisse, carbon pigment digital print, 14” x 14”, Lent by the Artist
