Display Cases in the Great Hall: Exhibition Archive

Eliana Pérez

May 4, 2014 - June 16, 2014

HUNTED: Gouache Drawings by Eliana Pérez

Domestic intranquilities form the subjects of this series of gouache drawings by Colombian artist Eliana Pérez, executed as a continuous numbered series with point of brush on deckled edge paper. Animals inhabit an interior and domestic landscape, coming to life and interacting with their environment. A group of branches in a vase waves cautiously as if bent by wind toward an unseen place, breaking into pieces and wispy fragments for no apparent reason. A slipcover begins to growl as if ready for attack. A hidden dragon slithers to life in the folds of a drapery, leaving fire in its wake. An archer shoots at a trophy stag from the comfort of his decorative pose on an ovoid telephone table. A flock of birds twitter against the back of a sofa. A living room is submerged in standing water, colorless, and linear. A blue mattress, its coils exposed, floats away on an ocean of coiled lines. The images form a personal narrative of disquiet.

Pérez describes the Hunted drawings in this way, noting that they are numbered, rather than named:

"In Hunted, the patterns on furniture, rugs and curtains come to life, transforming these objects of domestic comfort into portals expressing a pervasive world of savagery and violence. In these drawings the hunters revel in the thrill of dominance, while the prey struggle in fear and agony. The scenes make tangible a thin layer of noise, always present but not always apparent in modern life. The images interrupt the ostensible serenity of the home, like the violence on the television, domestic disquiet, and daily news of war." Her gaze is at once lyrical and ferocious, as she presents these snapshots of animated interaction within a place that normally seems peaceful and undisturbed by the intrusion of the wild, and untame d side of nature.

CHECKLIST

Case One:
Hunted
1-4, all drawings gouache on paper, 15 x 11 inches

Case Two:
Hunted
5-9, all drawings gouache on paper, 15 x 11 inches
Hunted 7 is 11 x 15 inches

All works Courtesy of the Artist
Artist website
Curated by Lisa A. Banner