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Nicolás Leiva, Mi Paraiso/My Paradise

Past exhibition
December 8, 2011 - January 30, 2012 San Antonio
  • Overview
  • Works
  • Installation Views
  • Press
Overview
Nicolás Leiva, Disegnare il Marmol, 2011, Carrara Marble, mixed media, 79 x 59 x 1.25", Ed. 4 / 6
Nicolás Leiva, Disegnare il Marmol, 2011, Carrara Marble, mixed media, 79 x 59 x 1.25", Ed. 4 / 6

Born in Tucumán in northwest Argentina in 1958, Leiva made paintings until 1996, when he extended his practice to ceramics. Now, he works in an assortment of materials and divides his time between his studio in Miami and the workshops of Bottega Gatti in Faenze, Italy. Working alongside other craftsmen, it takes Leiva and his team over two weeks to fabricate a single ceramic piece, which enters the kiln seven or eight times as the process of making the gleaming polychrome majolica finish takes place. On the last firing, the gold is applied.

 

The resultant works of art are unabashedly pleasing to the eye. That his work courts dismissal as decorative art does not bother Leiva. On the contrary, he insists that, "Pleasure is important. The pleasure is the point." His artworks are, like ornate Baroque altars embellished with gold or Buddhist mandalas, designed to capture the viewer's attention. They are machines of contemplation.

 

Embedded in Leiva's collection of forms and surface designs is a symbolic language that contains the narrative of an ethereal realm, but underlying his tales of paradise is a very real physical practice that is social, as well. Two gilt hands are part of the exhibition. Cast from the hands of a man and a woman at Bottega Gatti, they are Leiva's homage to the Italian craftsmen that work with him. The artists' labor transforms material into art. And when the art is seen, metaphor is collapsed into presence.

 

- Scott Andrews, San Antonio Current

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Works
  • Nicolás Leiva Big Red Constellation, 2008 Majolica with colored glaze and gold leaf 29.5 in diameter 74.9 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    Big Red Constellation, 2008
    Majolica with colored glaze and gold leaf
    29.5 in diameter
    74.9 cm
  • Nicolás Leiva Journey to Meet God I (Smaller Rounded Piece), 2010 Majolica with colored glaze and gold leaf Made in Italy 19 x 10 x 10" 48.3 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    Journey to Meet God I (Smaller Rounded Piece), 2010
    Majolica with colored glaze and gold leaf
    Made in Italy
    19 x 10 x 10"
    48.3 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm
  • Nicolás Leiva Flores Para Dios, 2004 Acrylic on leather 78 x 74" 198.1 x 188 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    Flores Para Dios, 2004
    Acrylic on leather
    78 x 74"
    198.1 x 188 cm
  • Nicolás Leiva The Flower in the Paradise Garden, 2010 Majolica with colored glaze and platinum 36 x 8 x 10" 91.4 x 20.3 x 25.4 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    The Flower in the Paradise Garden, 2010
    Majolica with colored glaze and platinum
    36 x 8 x 10"
    91.4 x 20.3 x 25.4 cm
  • Nicolás Leiva Disegnare il Marmol, 2011 Carrara marble, mixed media 79 x 59 x 1.3" 200.7 x 149.9 x 3.2 cm 4 / 6
    Nicolás Leiva
    Disegnare il Marmol, 2011
    Carrara marble, mixed media
    79 x 59 x 1.3"
    200.7 x 149.9 x 3.2 cm
    4 / 6
  • Nicolás Leiva Original Capote, 2003 Acrylic on Fabric 70 x 70" 177.8 x 177.8 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    Original Capote, 2003
    Acrylic on Fabric
    70 x 70"
    177.8 x 177.8 cm
  • Nicolás Leiva Las Tres Marias, 2011 Ink on paper 22 x 30" 55.9 x 76.2 cm
    Nicolás Leiva
    Las Tres Marias, 2011
    Ink on paper
    22 x 30"
    55.9 x 76.2 cm
Installation Views
  • Dsc 0723
  • Dsc 0732
  • Dsc 0727
  • Dsc 0721
Press
  • Nicolás Leiva at Ruiz-Healy Art, image by Scott Andrews

    Nicolás Leiva crosses dimensions at Ruiz-Healy

    Scott Andrews, San Antonio Current, December 20, 2011

Related artist

  • Nicolás Leiva

    Nicolás Leiva

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Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio

Open Wednesday - Saturday from 11AM to 4PM and by appointment | 210.804.2219

201-A East Olmos Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78212 

 

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Open Wednesday - Friday from 11AM to 5PM and by appointment | 646.833.7709

74 East 79th Street, 2D, New York, New York 10075

  

 

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