NYAB Event - Alejandro Cardenas "Narcomedusa"

Alejandro Cardenas "Narcomedusa"

James Fuentes LLC

This event has ended.

A Narcomedusa is a type of jellyfish found in the darkest depths of the Pacific Ocean. Two thousand feet below sea level, it lives its entire life in total darkness, floating elegantly in pressures that could crush a human skull. It feeds passively, as small animals stumble into its tentacles and are slowly digested in its translucent stomach. On the rare occasions that this creature has been seen with human eyes it has been with spotlights and through the acrylic dome of a submarine; the Narcomedusa's form silhouetted in stark contrast to the absolute blackness of the deep sea.

Cardenas begins these works with random watercolor compositions that involve no brushwork. Once the paint has settled, Cardenas looks for the image within the randomness, defining elements and unifying the form with black gouache and ink. The paintings end up resembling sea creatures caught in an explorer's spotlights. The series concerns human interaction with nature, contrasting the angularity of the man-made with the varied hues and forms of the natural. The exhibition title describes this motif: Narco (Latin: sleep) and Medusa (the mythological character that caused any onlooker to turn to stone) both imply transitive states.