DELIA SOLARI - Pinturas

ARTEXPO-NEW YORK
MARCH 1- 5 2007
JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER
Booth 1405 and sculpture garden

Towards Light

The monumental assemblage featured by Delia Solari proposes a new paradigm of co-existence. Towards Light is a polyptych comprised of ten large-scale paintings, each of them bearing a more than eloquent title: Construction, De-construction, Rebirth, Reflections, Union (I, II, III, and IV) and Impasse (I and II). The figurative anecdote may allude to a concrete historical event, but at the same time it transcends it. In this work, Delia displays the sequence of a vital cycle that appears to rule the lives of men, nations, and the universe. Everything that man builds at different scales, whether it is a house, a business, a family, or a great city, seems to have a peak moment, an insurmountable summit like the one reached by the mountain climber. The micro and macrocosm have proved to be dynamic – in quantum physics as much as in oriental mysticism – and consequently, no situation is permanent and everything is cyclic. Sometimes, part of the process is understood as destruction and turns out to be painful; on other occasions, it may be perceived as a crisis, that is, an opportunity for change. After a catastrophe there follows a Rebirth, as when a volcano erupts and later lava fertilizes the mountain slopes. Then reflection on the event may follow; one may shed prejudices and a prioris and try to grasp the true fabric of events. In Delia´s work there are dark and luminous aspects; the artist feels the pain of others as if it were her own because she is everyone, and from that somber abyss she draws the strength to soar above the circumstances. Pain is a katábasis –a descent to hell– for the hero who must continue his journey along the path to happiness. But the hero is not alone; he has companions and adversaries, friends that betray him and enemies that forge alliances with him. Life in a community, be it family, neighborhood, city or nation, has its sharp edges, and it demands the practice of tolerance and respect for the other, the one who is different. This is the proposal featured by the artist through her sculpture Towards Harmony, executed in stainless steel, a grandiose vertical assemblage symbolizing stages that starts out from the autonomy of the individual (the base), ascends by way of modules with varying degrees of complexity (life in a community), finally to smooth rugged edges (disputes) and arrive at the perfectly harmonious form, the sphere. To be in harmony with oneself in order to understand others and to be at peace with humankind in order to become one with the Totality is the underlying declaration of principles in this sculpture.
The paintings and the sculpture created by Delia Solari constitute an aspiration to a new way of living among human beings. Between the larger canvases the artist has placed narrower ones that function as links; it is not by chance that each of these is titled Union. Delia Solari has created a pictorial and sculptural assemblage as a proposal to rethink the universe and humanity as an infinite fabric woven by a mysterious ´ineffable´ that we metaphorically term ´Light´.

Julio Sánchez

	ARTEXPO-NEW YORK MARCH 1- 5 2007 JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER Booth 1405 and sculpture garden Towards Light The monumental assemblage featured by Delia Solari proposes a new paradigm of co-existence. Towards Light is a polyptych comprised of ten large-scale paintings, each of them bearing a more than eloquent title: Construction, De-construction, Rebirth, Reflections, Union (I, II, III, and IV) and Impasse (I and II). The figurative anecdote may allude to a concrete historical event, but at the same time it transcends it. In this work, Delia displays the sequence of a vital cycle that appears to rule the lives of men, nations, and the universe. Everything that man builds at different scales, whether it is a house, a business, a family, or a great city, seems to have a peak moment, an insurmountable summit like the one reached by the mountain climber. The micro and macrocosm have proved to be dynamic – in quantum physics as much as in oriental mysticism – and consequently, no situation is permanent and everything is cyclic. Sometimes, part of the process is understood as destruction and turns out to be painful; on other occasions, it may be perceived as a crisis, that is, an opportunity for change. After a catastrophe there follows a Rebirth, as when a volcano erupts and later lava fertilizes the mountain slopes. Then reflection on the event may follow; one may shed prejudices and a prioris and try to grasp the true fabric of events. In Delia´s work there are dark and luminous aspects; the artist feels the pain of others as if it were her own because she is everyone, and from that somber abyss she draws the strength to soar above the circumstances. Pain is a katábasis –a descent to hell– for the hero who must continue his journey along the path to happiness. But the hero is not alone; he has companions and adversaries, friends that betray him and enemies that forge alliances with him. Life in a community, be it family, neighborhood, city or nation, has its sharp edges, and it demands the practice of tolerance and respect for the other, the one who is different. This is the proposal featured by the artist through her sculpture Towards Harmony, executed in stainless steel, a grandiose vertical assemblage symbolizing stages that starts out from the autonomy of the individual (the base), ascends by way of modules with varying degrees of complexity (life in a community), finally to smooth rugged edges (disputes) and arrive at the perfectly harmonious form, the sphere. To be in harmony with oneself in order to understand others and to be at peace with humankind in order to become one with the Totality is the underlying declaration of principles in this sculpture. The paintings and the sculpture created by Delia Solari constitute an aspiration to a new way of living among human beings. Between the larger canvases the artist has placed narrower ones that function as links; it is not by chance that each of these is titled Union. Delia Solari has created a pictorial and sculptural assemblage as a proposal to rethink the universe and humanity as an infinite fabric woven by a mysterious ´ineffable´ that we metaphorically term ´Light´. Julio Sánchez	Construction 1.35 x 2 mts.
		Impasse I 1.40 x 2 mts
		Deconstruction 1.35 x 2 mts
		Impasse II 1.40 x 2 mts
		Renascense 1.35 x 2 mts.
		Reflections 1.50 x 2 mts.


		“To the age its art. To the art is freedom” Joseph Maria Olbrich Upon painting this canvas I felt sorrow, which, paradoxically, gave me the necessary strength to surrender myself to this piece of art and to let it express by itself. Perhaps, as long as there are dull souls in need to harm others, there will be in me, and in many others, the desire to search for the light to cover us all Delia Solari	“Compassion may be defined as a state of mind that is harmless, not violent, and not aggressive. It is a mental attitude based on the desire that the others be released from suffering, and it is associated with commitment, responsibility, and respect to others.” From “The art of Happiness” by Dalai Lama

			The spiritual nobility of our foundations When making this sculpture, I drew inspiration from the human being and his projections – family, communities, states or nations– and from the thought of the horror derived from all the acts of violence through which we, human beings, attempt to impose our own individual truths. I imagined a structure based on the potential of the human being, on his inherent luminosity and not on the darkness in which we are so frequently immersed. This implied envisaging myself and the Other in a different light, from a new perspective based on the eternal process of transformation that life invites us to go through. The human being is born with an “inner peace” that is repeatedly disturbed by internal events, such as physical illness or pain; by emotional factors such as grief, suffering, and frustrations, or by events in the environment. Then he forms a family whose peace is disturbed by personality differences, which may result in disagreements, conflicts and problems that may be solved or not, depending on the circumstances, mood, and stage of evolution of its members. Groups of families form communities, societies, provinces, which also develop a peaceful way of carrying out their activities. When problems arise, they are solved by applying social rules, which sometimes are not respected. The grouping of states, provinces or communities gives rise to the creation of nations which, depending on their characteristics and ways of interrelating, may or may not have a peaceful evolution. In all these groups, the basic unit is always the human being. Inasmuch as the human being works out his miseries and defects through different means contributing to a true process of transformation, a way towards a more peaceful life will become institutionalized. This transformation will require constant, arduous, painful work, but its achievement may be glorious. People will thus become more aware of the possibility of solving differences peacefully and of attaining the harmony to which the title of this sculpture makes reference. In the sculpture, the module representing transformation has rounded shapes, alluding to the flexibility that is an essential requisite for the human being to achieve this change. Following the same criterion, the module representing inner peace features concave forms. This process enhances and consolidates the individual´s inner peace, thus being essential for his attainment of a better self-relationship, a better relationship with his fellow-men, and a better relationship with the universe, and contributing to his achievement of completeness. The view of the finished sculpture persuaded me of the fact that a more peaceful future is possible. Beyond horror, misery or pain, life always offers us the chance for a new beginning, provided that we become aware of the spiritual nobility of our foundations. *Delia Solari*

		Hacia la Armonía Acero inoxidable 320 x 200 cm - 2004, 2005, 2006