Gonzalo Hernandez keeps mixing emotions
“I reject the idea of the artist being dependent on mystic inspiration,” says Gonzalo Hernandez (M.A., painting, 2018; M.F.A., fibers, 2019). “The idea I’m pushing is that everyone is an artist and this is a job.”
The Peruvian multi-disciplinarian stands in the light-dappled Alumni Gallery of the SCAD Museum of Art on a brisk autumn morning. Behind him, two drill-wielding workers in backwards baseball caps affix one of his new works to a wall. While installing Hernandez’s exhibition, their actions emphasize his point.
One wall exposes the gallery’s pink innards, which will be covered when the installation is complete. Except a closer look reveals…it is the work itself, titled PPP. Hernandez has created a floor-to-ceiling vinyl simulation of Owens Corning Energy-Saving Insulation with its familiar Pink Panther logo, adding subtle adornments to the repeat pattern, including his web address and an enigmatic emoji ):).
“I was researching symbols and that’s how I found the title of the show,” Hernandez explains. “The closed parenthesis followed by a colon and another closed parenthesis is both a sad face and a happy face. The emoji represents mixed emotions, and that’s how I feel right now — having my first museum show at SCAD MOA is a big step for me, while the whole world is dying!”
The artist is building himself as he goes. What might sound like fatalism in conversation inspires intrigue in person. In and Out, a photographic diptych of a shopping list written in Spanish on the back of a fist, carries implications about sustenance and consumption in a Corona-stricken year when even the supermarket can seem unsafe.
A video piece, 45", depicts Gonzalo wielding an advertising board featuring the word “SUCCESS” as he stands in different locations: an art fair, a soccer match, Damien Hirst’s studio, a political rally, Machu Pichu. There is no sign twirling, the artist’s stoicism questioning notions of location, reward, and who’s doing the real work to make success possible.
In a moment of uncertainty and upheaval, Hernandez has embraced possibility. Shortly before the opening of his SCAD MOA show, he completed a monthlong residency with the nonprofit Erie Artists & Culture in Pennsylvania, where he collaborated with a piñata maker and a group of local musicians. In March, he and his wife Pierina Sanchez (M.U.D., urban design, 2019) launched ABRIR, an online gallery featuring an international network of artists including Leia Genis (B.F.A., painting, 2019; B.F.A., sculpture, 2019) and beloved painting professor Todd Schroeder.
“Todd is one of my big influences,” Gonzalo says, nodding towards ):) (gracias Todd), a painting of the titular emoji on a sheet of Tyvek paper, a brand favored by Schroeder in his own work. “The English word ‘tribute’ is not quite right,” Gonzalo clarifies. “It’s something closer to what we say in Spanish, homenaje.”
Straddling cultures and countries, exploring art as language: Gonzalo Hernandez is on the job.
By Peter Relic
