KATES-FERRI PROJECTS is proud to present DISSOLUTION, the first solo exhibition of Martín Touzón’s work in New York City, on view from February 16 to March 13, 2023, with artist reception on Friday, February 17th, 6pm-8pm. The exhibition consists of a body of works by the conceptual multimedia artist. The intimate works on Wet Wipes open up to a series of neon sculptures. Later, some parts of these sculptures are turned into molds as an inspiring process for painting. Each series seamlessly transitions and dissolves into the next, quoting something from the previous one and devolving to the next one.

As an artist who normally rejects his previously established rules from one project to the next, he turns the table on this pattern as well, dissolving his own methodologies. Touzón says that “Change comes from noticing a difference in the feeling towards something.” Being an economist-turned-artist, he studies the impact of altering one variable on another. In the process he unconsciously opens a dialogue between arts and economics, relating at some point to the accumulation and fuite, trade, exchange, barter and surplus, production and circulation.

“The unfolding between the series came quite intuitively,” says Touzón. While on board the train to his residency in Turin (the city of Arte Povera) in 2017, he picked up bits of text and shapes from a magazine using acrylic markers and sharpies. He had to work fast so that the image would not be muddled because of the bleed of colors on the wipes. Lacking full control over the final image, the artist then lets them dry inside the same magazine. This technique underlies the paintings on Wet Wipes in the exhibition.

In contrast, the neon sculptures are very intentional. In his collaboration with a sign maker from Buenos Aires, Touzón must communicate quite specifically about how he wants the rings to look–almost misshapen. Translating from a 2D surface now into a 3D object, the artist is also playing with scale. The works on Wet Wipes are immediate and close to the hand, while the neon sculptures take up space and its light brings in the body.

As a next step, Touzón utilizes the neon shapes during the painting process. Laid on the canvases or over paper, they let the paint to diffuse on the wet surface, which in turn allows chance to play a role in the outcome. This gesture mimics the results in the Wet Wipes series, and yet the effect of the neon through paint or light is wholly distinct. Thus, he leads his work on the Escher stairs, seemingly returning to the same place, but ultimately, landing someplace new.

This whole process is an exciting new chapter in Touzón’s work. As an Argentina-based artist, Touzón has first-hand experience of an environment where instability is a constant of everyday life. Reason why his obsession for the careful study of transitions and changes. As the dissolution of society and systems come crumpling at our feet with the pandemic, climate change, and ongoing wars, the art world is also being reshaped by new artists and cultural producers. The holdouts for the old-world order or artistic hierarchies are also disillusioned, finding themselves in a new society that may look similar, but is fundamentally changed. Through his works, Touzón subtly suggests a way of perceiving through the cracks of this new normality and how one’s diluted perception of the world might not be an accurate reflection of others’ reality.

Martín Touzón (Argentina, 1985)

Bio: Born just after the fall of the Argentine dictatorship, he grew up in a fragile new democracy plagued by economic crisis and hyperinflation. His personal motivations led him to study economics and then to take part in the UTDT Artists Program. His education is not just focused on a formal institutional level, it was also nourished by working with other artists in their projects and exhibitions.

Since then, his work has addressed the crossroads between art and economics through processes that involve media such as sculpture, installation, performance, and painting to question aspects of today's society.

Touzón has exhibited individually and in group shows, also made large scale sculptures and performances as public space interventions. In addition, he participated in residencies at The Banff Center (CA) and in Torino (IT) as a prize winner for the Premio Italia - Argentina per l'Arte.  Among others, he is a recipient of the Creation Grant by the Metropolitan Fund for Culture, Arts and Science, the Patronage of the City of Buenos Aires and the Bicentennial Grant of the National Endowment for the Arts. His work is in the public collection of La Rural (AR) and in other international private collections.

Artist Statement: Touzón uses various medias and materials that allows him to explore the aesthetic and political dimension of the economy and consumption, as well as the social component of visibility. So far, his artistic practice has been wide-ranging and polysemous while metaphorically catalyzing socioeconomic concerns.

By bringing to light certain paradoxes that may occur simultaneously outside and inside the art system, he saw a way to contribute to the medium that he is working with. And, somehow, it led his practice to be inspired by its context.

Many of his works come from the Argentine contextual economic background between accumulation, circulation and loss, his works have a poetic-aesthetic component that highlights and characterizes them.

Press Release Exhibition Catalogue Art Works on View: Martín Touzón Available Works on Artsy Available Works on ArtLand Exhibition on YouTube