For the first time in New York, Gonzalo Lebrija will show The Distance Between You Me, a 16-mm film that was presented this spring on Sunset Boulevard by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND). This will be Gonzalo Lebrija’s fourth exhibition at I-20.
The Distance Between You and Me comprises four black-and-white 16mm film projections; and a set of lambda photographs that are stills from the films. The works capture the artist running away from the camera in Joshua Tree, Death Valley and Yosemite, California.
In each film, the artist first appears from behind the camera only to recede quickly into the distance. He advances away from the viewer as fast as he can, his speed and agility determined by the terrain. The final films and images depend on how far he goes and the many subtle variations in the daylight and scenery surrounding him as he speeds away. In each setting, Lebrija assumes a different role or relationship to the terrain, be it to a determined runner, or a fixed object melted into his surroundings, akin to a rock or tree. In these deserted settings, Lebrija makes the flight from the viewer seem like a natural instinct or reflex and possible metaphor for the inherent friction between oneself and reality. As a visual experience, the films offer nuances of light and landscape with hints of truth about distance, the psychological impact of which all depends on how fast he can get away from you.
In June, Gonzalo Lebrija will exhibit a sculpture that was commissioned by the MCA Denver, and will have a catalogue published by Other Criteria in London. In 2009, his video Asterion was shown by Creative Time in At 44 ½ on the HD screen in Times Square; and at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany.
His sculptures were featured in Art Projects at Art Basel Miami Beach (2009); and in La nada & el ser (nothingness and being), curated by Shamim Momin, at the Jumex Collection, Mexico City (2009). He has had solo exhibitions in Mexico City at the Museo de Arte Carillo Gil (2006); and the Museo experimental Eco (2006). His works have been shown in many international venues, including the Centro Reina Sofia, Madrid; the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; the National Gallery of Art, Warsaw; and the Cervantes Institute, New York. He had solo shows at Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris (2008), and Travesio Quatro, Madrid (2008).
Lebrija was born in Mexico City in 1972. He was educated at the Instituto Technológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente ITESO in Guadalajara, and was the co-founder of Oficina para Proyectos De Arte (OPA), a leading exhibition space in that city. A hardcover catalogue on the artist is being published this spring by Other Criteria in London.