Pablo Atchugarry

Hollis Taggart Galleries is pleased to present the first New York show of Pablo Atchugarry’s marble sculpture.  The Uruguayan-born artist, who lives and works in Lecco, Italy, works with marble and bronze to create pieces that are both elegant and imposing.

No undertaking is too daunting for him—from the 2003 Venice Biennale installation representing Uruguay, to the private commission of a five-story high sculpture hewn from a single block of Carrara marble, to the more intimately scaled works on view in the gallery. In white Carrara marble, and pink Portugal and Iran marbles, these pieces fold, layer, and undulate. Atchugarry effectively works the medium to appear both weightless and substantial.

Vertical marble pieces such as Totem de la Paz (Totem of Peace) and Dreaming New York (Soñando New York) are pleated and soaring, belying their massive weight.  On a smaller scale, a deeply veined pink marble sculpture employs volumetric folds that convey a robust, tactile musculature.  And in a bronze piece from this year, Atchugarry employs metal in his characteristic idiom, creating his piece with a slick tactility.

The artist has long been recognized in Europe as a leading sculptor; his public commissions are located throughout Europe and South America, and his work is held in private collections around the world.  In 1999, the Pablo Atchugarry Museum was inaugurated in Lecco, and his foundation opened in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 2007.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue featuring an essay by poet, critic, and professor Jonathan Goodman and extensive photographs of the artist’s working process, studio, and public projects.