Elementor #12631

MONTI8 is delighted to announce its second project at VISTA: “ Gabriel Alejandro Sanchez – Let Me In”.

In this occasion, the small room of VISTA will host a selection of a new series, specifically thought for the space, small and medium scale works which reflect on the theme of isolation at the present time.

Gabriel Alejandro Sanchez was born and raised in Miami, from a Cuban family. His grandfather migrated to the States over sixtie years ago, but his family always kept a connection with his roots. This connection brought Sanchez to leave the United States to go to live to Havana, being the first of his family returning to Cuba in decades.

Moving to a new country was incredibly relevant to his practice. Living in Cuba, for him, meant meeting a different society, less affected by technology and more focused on relationships and human contacts,

His paintings are mostly portraits of people he meets. All of these characters are described with an intimate way, in fact, thanks to a very delicate and soft painting, the artist is able to catch – and brings out – the man’s inner soul. Whatever the subject is, Sanchez’s works reveal the most private side of his figures, and convey a sense of tenderness as well as strong sensuality. In “Any Place but Here”, the portrait of a girl with a pink dress, for instance, the way the figure moves, the clothes and the expression on her face suggest a subtle sensuality, but also grace and elegance.

Other works of this new series are imbued with Cuban tradition, even if these elements are not easy to see at first glance. For example, in the work “Roberto”, the young man depicted in profile with a black leather jacket, the texture of the pink background reminds of the tiles and floors of the typical Cuban apartments, an element which often recurs in the artist portraits. Also the religion is an important part of this series: both in the works “Prayer” and “The Pianist” we can recognize a symbol of the Christian culture. In the first, the two hands joined in prayer of a young woman, reveal the pictorial skill of Sanchez, who depicts every hand, every finger, every nail, every line with an impressive technique and realism, so perfect that we can even feel the softness of the skin.

In the other work, the painting of Jesus Christ behind the woman it’s hang on the wall in this dark room, where the woman sits alone and thoughtful on a chair. The figure of Christ looks outside the paintings, as he’s looking for the viewer’s eyes, as if he was the main character of the scene.

In every work created for the show, Gabriel Alejandro Sanchez explores the theme of isolation, a condition that we all have to live during these recent hard times. The sense of loneliness is evoked by the representation of single figures captured in their home, or in any case caught in a private moment. Almost everytime, these characters are not placed in a real context, where it is posssibile to recognize a specific place. Often, as for example in the work “Roberto”, the man stands on an empty surface, which underlines the feeling of loneliness and disconnection with the external world.

In “The Pianist” too, we can recognize a domestic environment only for the presence of the chair and the painting behind. The absence of architectural and furnishing elements, as well as the darkness and the silence which surround the figure, emphasize a sense of anxiety and social isolation.

The title “Let Me In” refers to the effort of the artist – and then the viewer – to enter this men and women’s lives and intimacy, and investigate how the present condition has changed us all.