Dávila, Jose
This artist’s work is located in the intersection between photography, architecture, graphic design, sculpture and installation. With studies in architecture, Dávila has used several conceptual strategies from which he befuddles the function of the spaces in which he presents his work as well as the function of the media and the materials he uses.
Dávila belongs to an international generation interested in the legacy of modernist utopias, particularly in their expressions in Latin American countries. He tries to delve into the meaning of minimalism today, into its relevance and into the interpretations within different cultural frameworks.
Based on these ideas, Dávila has shown in several of his pieces deep interest in ad infinitum reproduction of modular forms, similar to Donald Judd’s style. Untitled (2007) is made up of a series of cardboard boxes stacked in a wall with bottle caps ―soda bottle caps. Here is an evident allusion to the series in metal, acrylic or laminated series of that artist. Through this operation, Dávila recreates Judd’s reductive gesture in a totally different context, one which adds a humorous factor.
Conjunto habitacional (2000) is a gathering of ceramic figures that recreate the meeting places of thousands, maybe millions of people in our cities. The so-called housing units or low-income houses allow the underprivileged class to have a place to live in. Once we see the creepily symmetrical way in which our living spaces are constructed it is impossible to silence an ironic comment on the way in which our society is planned out.
― Pablo Vargas Lugo