dionisio gonzalez imagines disaster resistant surrealist structures

dionisio gonzalez imagines disaster resistant surrealist structures
(above) dauphin island II (detail)
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

dionisio gonzález: architecture for resistance
gallery yusto / giner, malaga, spain
now through march 20th, 2014

contemporary art gallery yusto / giner presents ‘architecture for resistance’, the first solo exhibition of spanish artist dionisio gonzález in malaga. the show is structured around two of gonzález’ series of surrealist photographic manipulations, ‘dauphin island’ and ‘inter-actions’, both of which express fantasy landscapes integrated within an urban fabric.

a fascination with architecture — a trademark theme that runs throughout gonzález’ oeuvre — and his concern for the social sphere have led him on a lasting search for physical sites where chaos and beauty coexist. the examples he has found include dauphin island, land located in the gulf of mexico which suffers from incessant and devastating hurricanes. impressed by the vitality of its inhabitants to repeatedly recover from what nature destroys, dionisio has been motivated to design habitable and sustainable constructions, like real futuristic forts made of iron and concrete, replacing unstable wood.

the meticulously manipulated dwellings intend to provide answers to the problems of the world and as the artist explains, ‘give shape to new habitable structures in the vacuums in the perception of spaces that had previously been devastated’.

dauphin island II
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

dauphin island II (detail)
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

dauphin island X
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

dauphin island II
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

dauphin island II (detail)
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

a second series of fictional recreations is ‘inter-actions’, a sequence which proposes a relationship between humans and the environment, establishing a use of natural resources by the inhabitants. these black and white images describe buildings grafted to the environment, literally rooted to the earth they are situated on.

inter-actions 9
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

inter-actions 8
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

from the series ‘inter-actions’
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

inter-actions 11
image courtesy of yusto / giner gallery

gonzález’s 2011 ‘favelas’ series proposes a visualization of an urban space where the decomposing homes of the inhabitants feature rendered architectural outbursts of a futuristic and abstract style.  

novaacqua-gasosa II
image courtesy of dionisio gonzález

ipiranga 3
image courtesy of dionisio gonzález

ipiranga 3
image courtesy of dionisio gonzález

roberto marinho I
image courtesy of dionisio gonzález

roberto marinho I (detail)
image courtesy of dionisio gonzález