Angel Ricardo Ricardo Rios’ paintings deserve deep consideration, but I don’t recommend rushing that effort.
Instead, first take a moment to simply enjoy their visceral pleasures, the splashes of purple and gold, the streaks of yellow and magenta, the dabs of pink and green. All applied exuberantly on backgrounds of pure, pale blues, cloudy grays and a creamy orange that resembles the inside of a cantaloupe.
Rios is an abstractionist, and the images he paints are never quite clear. Are they flowers or birds or butterflies? Or are they simply shapes and dashes that come from his head, run through his hand, and end up sprawled across the large canvases he uses?
Parsing out abstract art is always a game, but it is rarely this much fun or this pretty to play, at least on the surface. Rios’ works manage to be soothing like still lifes while remaining exciting in the manner of the vibrant, deconstructed modern art that first became popular in the mid-20th century.
There are 20 of his works, nearly all painted this year, on display at K Contemporary Gallery, in a solo show titled “I Was Not Born in Havana,” that offers a catch-up on the career of the artist who was born in Cuba and lives currently in Mexico. The gallery is also presenting a separate solo show by Denver artist Michael Gadlin, titled “In-Tension,” in its project space. The two exhibits have different sensibilities, but they complement each other well.
Rios: between real and unreal
Of course, there is a more intellectual side to Rios’ work, though the gallery’s explanation of that in its handout materials still leaves plenty of room for viewers to make up their own minds about how they see the paintings. There is a personal narrative to it, and that connects to Rios’ own experience leaving his home country to live abroad.
But it is a winding story, reflecting the artistap “ambivalent relationship to origin, identity and perception.” Those things constantly shift, and so does Rios’ inspiration. When he applies his oil paint to canvases, using brushes, drips and his own fingers, he is channeling both conscious and unconscious things. The paintings are composed in a painterly manner, but basically he just paints whatever reality he exists in at the moment, whatever feels true. Or, at least, that is how I experience them.
It makes more sense when you know that Rios has said in the past that he rejects the title of “artist.” Instead, he positions himself simply “as a man who paints — allowing the work to exist outside expectations and closer to lived truth,” according to the accompanying text.
Gadlin: a deeper story
Autobiography plays into Gadlin’s work, as well, and it is equally complicated and compelling — and surprising since many art appreciators in this region already know much of his story. He has been making art here for decades and had public-facing jobs as both the host of Rocky Mountain PBS’ “Arts District” TV program and as director of the non-profit Platte Forum, which uses art to help local teens find their own voices.
For this show, he drops those other personas and fully embraces the role of artist, showing how he is evolving in that realm. The work is mature and self-aware while retaining a sense of exploration. The exhibit, as a whole, feels daring.
That includes the way it is installed, with paintings overlapping each other instead of being separated as they usually are in gallery shows. The works are distinct, rendered in different colors and moods, but they are brought together into something more like a collage where one painting actually obscures the view of another.
It is very unusual to see works valued in the thousands of dollars (as these are) crammed together in such a way. But the arrangement allows visitors to experience the individual pieces as part of a larger body of work where Gadlin displays a disregard for the usual rules of painting and exhibiting art in general.
One example of that: Most of the works are presented on unstretched canvas, with paintings such as the 11-foot-long “Used Tires For Sale” simply being pinned up to the wall.
Another example: Gadlin combines media and techniques that artists more often keep separate into single works. His large-scale “The Transient Nature of Life” — 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide — employs acrylic paint, house paint, charcoal, ink and spray paint. There is a lot going on materially and emotionally in the work.
As for imagery, Gadlin also keeps us guessing. Sometimes the work feels representational — you can clearly see a face in the charcoal-heavy “Transient Echoes of Perspective.” But Gadlin moves everything into the realm of mystery by adding shapes, playing with surface and depth and materials. Rather than being delicate, these pieces feel hand-made, roughly-hewn and, in that way, very personal.
He “both thinks and muscles his way into bold compositions,” as K Contemporary executive director Jennifer Berry puts it in the show’s written materials.
The show has an extra component. In the center of the gallery, there is a stack of objects — art books, a plant, sketch books, a brush, a bucket. Presumably, these come from Gadlin’s studio. He is letting us see his process, his inspiration.
There is also a board with dozens of small notes attached that Gadlin appears to use as inspiration. “Don’t overthink the art,” one reads. Another reminds him to consider “Formula vs. Technique.”
It would be easy to see this as a distraction, a bit of unnecessary oversharing since the work speaks for itself and viewers can do without the daily mantras.
But it is also possible to view it as a gift, especially for people here who have followed his career and feel cultural kinship to him. Gadlin wants us to understand who he is as a human beyond the label of painter. This is intimate stuff, and he is willing to put it on public display to show us who he really is, and what a struggle art-making can be.
The whole show feels confident in that regard. This is an accomplished artist, doing business in his own unique way.
Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer specializing in fine arts.
IF YOU GO
Both exhibits continue through June 27 at K Contemporary, 1412 Wazee St. They are free. Info: 303-590-9800 or kcontemporaryart.com.
