KATES-FERRI PROJECTS is pleased to announce X MARKS THE SPOT:  in partnership with Barranguet Arts in Easton, Connecticut. Highlighting artists Daniel Barragán, Vicky Barranguet, Koyoltzintli, Agustina Markez, and Edward Salas, this exhibition studies the dynamic exchange between Barranguet’s monumental abstractions and the other artists’ sculptural works. Barranguet juxtaposes color to create paintings that comfort and ground the viewer, while Barragán, Koyoltzintli, Markez, and Salas use recognizable objects, like vases, trucks, and power cords, to produce a similar effect to aid one in healing and paving way toward clarity around the ongoing imperialism. There is a shared vibrancy of color and playfulness in messaging.

Part of his Artifact series of work, Daniel Barragán hand makes ceramic jugs that are ornamented by band stickers, bumper stickers and 70’s and 80’s ephemera. The ceramic jugs are made in a traditional way on the pottery wheel. The forms of the jugs are imitations of the regional pottery of the American Southwest - the region of his birth. “This project began after reading a horrific story about Border Patrol agents destroying lifesaving water stations that are placed in the Chihuahua desert as refuge for migrants. I wanted to counter this action by creating my own water stations which like myself are multicultural in nature. These jugs are meant to be aggressive jugs of protest, so I chose to adorn them with band stickers that remind me of the Northern Mexican bootleg punk scene.”

New York-based Uruguayan artist Vicky Barranguet uses the language of traditionally male-dominated abstract expressionism to create vibrant abstractions that flow and diverge across her massive canvases with a sense of urgency. On view is a large acrylic and mixed media on canvas titled Portal II, where Barranguet combines painting with music to express the rhythm and harmony of spontaneous and intense emotions.

Koyoltzintli, The Latinx Artist Fellowship 2022 recipient reflects on her childhood and her relationship with the ocean growing up in coastal Ecuador. On view are two whistling vessels, evoking a dialogue with the ancient makers of these instruments, and also speaking of our current challenging times. When activating these whistling bottles, “I am able to channel my ancestors and pay them homage”

On view a series of power strips and cord hand-built in ceramic by artist Agustina Markez. Clay and technology seem completely opposite as one is natural, fragile, and traditional, and the other is new, man-made, and futuristic. “It’s their differences that attract me to combine these mediums. By making these extension cords out of clay, I anthropomorphize these overlooked everyday objects that help us connect.” What happens when we pay attention to how much we rely on “technology helpers”? It’s not so much about what equipment we use but the systems that have been built to support the technological advancements. These indispensable electronic connections, extension cords, multiple plugs and outlets are highlighted and brought out to life through clay and color.

Edward Salas' use of ceramics in his work allows for the fusing of pre-Columbian pottery with American cars to create hybrid sculptures that pose questions about masculinity, cultural authenticity, and American identity. The work H8 On This fuses a pickup truck with a pre-Columbian style spout and handle while updating it with a gradient glaze effect reminiscent of eccentric car paint jobs. The work Twin Vessel brings together two symbols of labor, one from Colombia and one from the United States, a donkey and a jeep. Using the framework of a twin vessel seen in pre-Columbian artifacts Salas creates an updated Latinx artifact for the future. “Artiface or Artifact it's all Art”

More on exhibiting artists:

Daniel Barragán was born in 1988 in El Paso, TX, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He has exhibited in group shows throughout New York and Texas, most recently at Miriam Gallery in Brooklyn NY (2022). Barragán was a Smack Mellon - Hot Pick (2020) and was the recipient of the Stutzman Family Foundation Fellowship (2019). He received a BFA (2013) and an MFA (2019) from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. 

Vicky Barranguet is an abstract expressionist artist from Montevideo, Uruguay, living and working in New York City since 1997, where she hosts her studio practice. Barranguet’s paintings are part of worldwide private collections and are shown nationally and internationally, including numerous exhibitions in the United States, England, France, China, Japan and Uruguay, among others.

Koyoltzintli s an interdisciplinary artist, healer, and educator living in the USA. She grew up on the pacific coast and the Andean mountains in Ecuador, these are geographies that permeate her work. She focuses on sound, ancestral technologies, ritual, and storytelling through collaborative processes and personal narratives. Intersectional theories and earth-based healing inform her practice.

Agustina Markez is an Argentine immigrant artist, currently based in Providence, RI. She received a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts and a Bachelor of Art in Art History at SUNY Purchase. She is currently an MFA Sculpture candidate at Rhode Island School of Design. Her works in installation, sculpture, video, film and performance examine the way technology, constructed environments and her home can merge.

Edward Salas (b. 1990) is a working artist from Queens, is a Colombian-American artist exploring the complexities of American identity through painting, ceramics and other media. By manipulating popular American icons, idols and archetypes, Salas investigates notions of taste while blurring the boundaries between fine art and craft. His work poses alternative narratives that complicate and reimagine tropes while questioning the idea of an authentic cultural object.

Artworks on View   Available Works on Artsy