With Africa, José reminds us of the proximity to Spain of the world’s ‘biggest and richest continent.’. He created the sculpture to depict issues of emigration and exportation, exploitation by the West, trade, poverty, richness, commodities and fragility, as well as ‘transformations of materials and balance.’ Bird in Space is a representation of Brancusi’s 1928 sculpture of the same name. José explains, ‘my intention was to pay homage to this shiny and perfect piece, but using rough, used, found and unwanted objects, to give the materials new expressions and rescue the soul of the original object.’ Distorsión has a split significance: while it could be seen as a playful piece, mimicking the joy of the funfair hall of mirrors, it now makes José reflect upon Spain and London. With us, the gallery viewers, seeing our distorted image disorientingly reflected back to us in red, he asks us ‘how do we see ourselves, and how do others see us as rejected Spanish artists here and in Spain?’ José comes from Seville and has lived in London for fourteen years. He completed a degree in sculpture at Camberwell, University of the Arts in 2012, and has since exhibited at a number of venues across London. His work mixes sculpture with painting, and Pop Art and consumerist culture with high art, creating hybrid juxtapositions and humorous, contradictory assemblages. Through his sculptures, he urges us to speculate about the cultural values around us. His first solo exhibition, Colores, Dame Colores, is currently taking place at SHARP, 308-312 Brixton Road, and is running until 30th May. josegomez_art@yahoo.co.uk www.josegomez-art.weebly.com
