About the exhibition
Robert Andrade is a southern California-based artist focused on issues related to the built environment and spatial politics. For his project at Cardinal —Of Excerpt Fragments— Andrade will create both fabricated and site-specific work within the gallery space over the course of a week-long residency.
The artist’s practice oscillates between the materiality of external, man-made structures and the polished, interior space of the gallery. The repeated use of building materials, such as asphalt, lumber, drywall, steel, etc., contributes to what might be seen as a cold or calculating aesthetic in his work. This approach is,moreover, a reflection of his larger interest in urban planning, architecture, philosophy, and history. Having absorbed some of the aesthetics of humanity’s flawed attempts at utopian urban ideals, his work prompts the audience to be “aware and critical of the built environment.” How, then, will these new works about space be viewed by the residents of a city in which power and politics have dramatically shaped geography and the interactions of residents?
Andrade’s calculated aesthetic is balanced by an intuitive, responsive method of working in a space, and with a space. Over the course of his residency, Andrade will apply his established material vocabulary to a new space here in Baltimore that is itself physically evolving. This process will take on an almost
performative aspect as well, since the gallery will hold open studio hours during his residency and visitors will be able to see the installation in progress.
Of Excerpt Fragments will be on view from October 12 until November 4. The gallery will be open special hours for School 33’s Open Studio Tour Saturday, October 7 (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) and Sunday, October 8 (2-6 p.m.). The exhibition opening will take place Thursday, October 12, 6-9 p.m.
