Bosco Sodi: Earth on canvas

A recent visit to Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York left me wanting to see more of Mexican artist Bosco Sodi’s works. Though originally born in Mexico City, Sodi works and takes inspiration from the colors of Oaxaca.

His current solo exhibit at the gallery in Chelsea features a series of clay cube sculptures titled Caryatides. Each cube is made by mixing raw earth or sand with water, shaped to the artist’s wish and dried to the environment’s will. Even though the cubes seem minimalist in nature and even remind us of Donald Judd’s stacks, Sodi’s decision to leave the works to freely interact with their environment in the process of drying, moves away from the industrial nature of minimalism.

At the back of the gallery are canvases splattered with an arresting hue of red earth, it is as if each canvas has been shot violently, yet the closer you get you get a hint of Pollock’s all over technique, each splash of color creating its own shadow and its own impact o the canvas. Sodi has also done other performances and installations in New York, mostly with pieces similar to the cubes, reflecting on the idea of taking down walls to welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Bosco Sodi’s monographic exhibition will be on view at Paul Kasmin Gallery until January 6 2018.

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