Studio H presents Mannequin by Pablo Cavides opening April 2

Studio H presents a solo show by Pablo Caviedes: Mannequin
April 2, 2011 through May 29, 2011
Opening Show: Saturday April 2, 2011 from 6PM to 9PM

Studio H (408 H St) is proud to present Pablo Cavides’ first solo show in Washington, DC which will open Saturday April 2, 2011 from 6pm to 9pm to the general public. The show runs through May 29, 2011.

Caviedes’ upcoming exhibition at Studio H Gallery entitled Mannequin is comprised of new work that explores the dichotomy between the natural and the artificial. The symbolic imagery used in his paintings and sculptures refer to what Caviedes calls “fakeness”— often humorous commentary on societal fascination and obsession with virtual, artificial life that mimics natural human forms. In this exhibition you will find imagery referring to cameras, TV screens, tripods, mannequin limbs even paparazzi. “I like using metaphor in my art” Caviedes explains, “Mannequin symbolizes artificial life…I think we lose a lot of sense of the real and natural life living in present times.”

Caviedes is not so much moralizing as he is making a humorous statement about what he calls the loss of the natural human quality and the human identity. His work addresses deep conflict and struggle within the human condition and more specifically, opposition within the human psyche–cynicism and empathy, humor and anguish.

What resonates deeply are the endearing animal forms in Caviedes’ work and their relationship to the artificial human figures and to each other–their relationship is ambiguous, creating a sense of curiosity and isolation. The paintings are haunting, atmospheric landscapes that capture a moment of time in between virtual and real worlds.

About the Artist

Pablo Caviedes (b. 1971 Cotacachi, Ecuador) studied at the Colegio de Artes Plasticas Daniel Reyes in San Antonio De Ibarra, Ecuador where he won numerous prizes in local and national competitions. In 1994, Caviedes won the Paris Prize sponsored by the Alliance Française allowing him to study art at the prestigious Ecole National Supérieur des Beaux Arts in Paris, France. Only four years later, in 1998, Caviedes was one of two artists under age 40 chosen by an International Jury for the grand exhibition Latin America and the Caribbean: a new Generation of Artists ( Identités: Artistes d’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes 1999). The international jury was chaired by such distinguished members as Jean-Jacques Aillagon, President of the Pompidou Center, Alfred Pacquement, Director of the Ecole National Supérieur des Beaux Arts and artist Antonio Seguí y Marwan Hoss, General Commissioner of Fine Arts of the International Development Bank which sponsored the biennial event.

Now an internationally acclaimed artist who has shown his work in France, Spain and Ecuador, Caviedes currently resides in New York City where he shows frequently.