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Jose Dávila
Mexican • b. 1974
Biography
Jose Dávila was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1974, where he still lives and works. Formally trained as an architect, Dávila creates assemblages, installations and photographic works that probe the transitory nature and spatial occupation of physical structures. He references artists and architects such as Donald Judd, Mathias Goeritz and Sol LeWitt in his works, reappropriating modernist architectural principles and addressing the failure of their utopian premise. His works, often constructed out of painted wood, found objects and plastics resembling quasi-functional structures, are at once critiques of and homages to twentieth-century avant-garde artists and architects. His style and vocabulary is born of a deep wealth of allusions and imagery, both artistic and architectural.
Insights
In 2014, Dávila won the ArtNexus Latin America Art Award.
In 2002, Dávila co-founded Oficina para Proyectos de Arte, which he considers to be the first space in Guadalajara to show contemporary art. International artists are invited to come and produce work here and are given free creative reign.
"[I'm interested in] how materials react to certain forces […] working with gravity and tension without any engineering calculations."