N. Soala “Election Day of the Dead”

N. Soala “Election Day of the Dead”

Gitler &

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Gitler &_____ presents N. Soala: Election Day of the Dead, the artist’s second solo show with the gallery.

In this new body of curated works, Soala unveils a series of mixed-media oil paintings and sculpture, each a scene or portrait that captures some facet of our current political climate, intertwined with touches of mournful tension and repose which pay homage the exhibition’s namesake. Soala’s signature animation style of vivid color juxtaposed with playful and brisk line work—evoking elements of Schiele and Squigglevision—lends the works varying (and complementary) degrees of dread and levity. At the heart of these works, however, is not some ghoulish omen but a restless sense of uncertainty. The Day of the Dead is, after all, a time for memorial and celebration – two states of being that can be difficult to reconcile.

In addition to the paintings and small sculpture, Soala has created a set of 16 drawings, which together form a tabla of Lotería cards. The game of chance (“lottery” in Spanish) traditionally comprises iconic images of objects and animals, with rules not unlike Bingo. For this tabla, the artist has sourced imagery from a variety of found objects, symbolic gestures, and absurd moments. The undead rise, there are living ghosts among us, and quite soon the masses will flock to the polls; Soala’s confluence of politics and the surreal is certainly apropos. “Election Day of the Dead” alludes as much to the respective days’ proximity on the calendar as it does to the rituals themselves.

Media

• Painting
• Sculpture

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