Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Galería ATC is pleased to announce “Contemplation”, an exhibition of paintings by Luis Kerch (1962), a Mexican artist living in Tenerife. The opening will take place on Friday, May 5, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Calle Callao de Lima, 39, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and will remain open to the public until July 7, 2023. The artist will be present during the inauguration .
"Contemplation" includes eight medium and large format paintings on canvas, as well as a series of small works on wood. Kerch created many of the pieces in the mountains of Vilaflor, the artist's most recent place of retreat, and in his studio in Santa Cruz, situated on the bustling road that leads to Las Teresitas.
In the exhibition presentation, Kerch has dispensed with any support upon which to stretch and staple his canvases. As a result of this stripped-down installation, his paintings become less about the object and more about the action of painting. The artist produces many of his works in situ (or au-plein-air sessions), changing his perspective by painting by placing the canvas on the ground (or floor), then hanging it on the wall. This change of view reflects his contemplative process, a 360 intake of his surroundings – be it the silent mountains and pine trees, or areas with more traffic. It is a physical process, where he carries only what is necessary to his chosen sites and subjects himself to the elements, be it heat, cold, or wind.
The constant repositioning of his canvas frees his scenes from a fixed point or lighting. The result is a rich play between the ephemeral (light and shadow), and that which remains long enough to capture more pictorially. Kerch’s paintings are always on the threshold, in some ways borderless. The imprecision of where his paintings end and the environment in which they were produced, mirrors his own immersion in his surroundings.
Luis Kerch (1962) was born in Mexico and currently lives in Tenerife. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Miami, Florida. He studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, obtaining, in 1990, the title of Master of Science in Communication Design. The work of Luis Kerch has been exhibited in several countries, and in Tenerife he exhibited at Galería Mácula (2012), and at Instituto Cabrera Pinto of the Government of the Canary Islands (2016 and 2011). “Contemplation” is his first solo exhibition at Galería ATC.
