super rad.
I Can See
(I’m Going Blind)
Works of Alejandro Delacruz
Alejandro Delacruz is on a precipice. The artist is inexorably losing his eyesight to the insidious progression of diabetes and, at 26, this seems a bleak outlook for a young man starting to find his way after a rough start. Apprehensive yet sanguine, his new body of work reflects a diminishing visual narrative that has become his current obsession and reality.
His work is stark, raw and unvarnished – the antithesis of ironic conventions so prevalent in contemporary art. Says self-taught Delacruz “(art)…helps me completely clear my mind of all the dramatic nuances of my life….” Faced with the inevitable, the artist is relentless in painting as much as he can while he still has some vision.
Delacruz paints on found board and canvas with visceral, energetic brushstrokes - the imagery surreal, disturbing and lyrical - a kind of Rorschach test in reverse - a nightmarish manifestation of what is and what might have been. Yet there is a sense of optimism – albeit with images of cosmic scale and potential rebirth.
Tough and unblinking, Delacruz’s art presents a compelling window into an artist’s most intimate condition.
--- William Moreno, Curator
William is an independent curator and writer. He was the founding director of the Claremont Museum of Art and the director of the Mexican Museum, San Francisco.
(I’m Going Blind)
Works of Alejandro Delacruz
Alejandro Delacruz is on a precipice. The artist is inexorably losing his eyesight to the insidious progression of diabetes and, at 26, this seems a bleak outlook for a young man starting to find his way after a rough start. Apprehensive yet sanguine, his new body of work reflects a diminishing visual narrative that has become his current obsession and reality.
His work is stark, raw and unvarnished – the antithesis of ironic conventions so prevalent in contemporary art. Says self-taught Delacruz “(art)…helps me completely clear my mind of all the dramatic nuances of my life….” Faced with the inevitable, the artist is relentless in painting as much as he can while he still has some vision.
Delacruz paints on found board and canvas with visceral, energetic brushstrokes - the imagery surreal, disturbing and lyrical - a kind of Rorschach test in reverse - a nightmarish manifestation of what is and what might have been. Yet there is a sense of optimism – albeit with images of cosmic scale and potential rebirth.
Tough and unblinking, Delacruz’s art presents a compelling window into an artist’s most intimate condition.
--- William Moreno, Curator
William is an independent curator and writer. He was the founding director of the Claremont Museum of Art and the director of the Mexican Museum, San Francisco.