Saturio Alonso is exhibiting a selection of works at The Powerhouse, Callan, Co. Kilkenny.
Using paper, leather and wood, Unhappy Island can be seen as a cabinet of curiosities, an eclectic collection of objects. As in an ethnographic museum, the objects in the exhibition were created raiding personal memories in what can, ironically, be defined as an exercise of inner colonialism. Using his Spanish background as a reference point and the propaganda aspect of the Baroque art prevalent in the multitude of religious buildings of that nation, Saturio integrates that aesthetic with some of the extraordinary traditional art found in Ireland. The use of leather, a medium firmly associated with practical crafts, being at the same time one of the oldest materials used historically by our ancestors, allows Alonso the opportunity to contrast the soft, organic surface with the severe form of some of the pieces.
In parallel, large paper works are transformed into three-dimensional objects by folding and cutting, obliging the viewer to confront and decipher the original painting and drawing now recreated and compressed into a completely different format.
Unhappy Island opens on 13 September at 5 pm. The exhibition remains open from 13 to 17 September at The Powerhouse, Mill Lane, Callan, R95 X227, Co. Kilkenny.
