Magical Equilibrium: An exhibition co-curated by Claire McCaslin-Brown and Sun Gallery, Seoul
McCaslin Art Advisory is pleased to be collaborating with Sun Gallery, Seoul on the debut solo exhibition of London-based, Chilean artist, Pato Bosich. Created over the course of 2020 – 2024, the works on canvas continue to draw on the artist’s interest and devotion to European art history and Classical antiquity.
The paintings in this exhibition explore themes of alchemy and an almost ritualistic view of the act of painting and artistic inspiration. Bosich's vibrant palette of yellows, bright blues, rosy hues, and strong reds infuses his works with energy and mystique, enhancing the dreamlike quality of his compositions. His canvases come alive with a sophisticated and vibrant palette that echoes the ultramarine and rich, ruby red colours of the sixteenth-century, Renaissance Master painter, Titian.
Mythological symbols mingle with references to the real-life tools of the artist. We are given glimpses into Bosich’s studio in North London - a sacred space where creativity thrives. Works like "Conjuring of the Tower" and "Magical Equilibrium" invite viewers to witness the magical process of creation, where the artist's imagination and technical skill converge to bring forth new realities. The painting “Belly of an Artist” stands as a contemporary masterpiece, an accomplished work rich with symbolic imagery and that brings together allegorical elements – a horse, a feather, a hat adorned with candles – each inviting deeper interpretation. The work introduces ochre (reminiscent of the yellow of the Old Masters) into floral motifs and vibrant splashes of colour. Interspersed fragments of iconic London monuments and architectural motifs subtly ground the piece in its geographical context, creating a compelling dialogue between symbolism and place. Fragmentation of old and ancient artefacts is a recurrent theme in Bosich’s work, particularly evident in his pen and ink drawings. The painting emphasises the idea that the artist carries his creative digestive system with him, constantly transfiguring the experiences and influences he "consumes."
Magical Equilibrium, 2023
Oil on canvas
171 x 133cm
Belly of an Artist , 2024
Oil on canvas
173 x 116cm
These paintings of Bosich are dream-scapes, romantic, fantasies, almost surreal. Many adjectives can be used to describe them, as Bosich introduces us to worlds of playful and dreamlike juxtapositions. Landscapes, characters, objects, and situations are re-invented and re-scaled, transforming their interaction into poetic apparitions. The artist’s continued interest in Classical literature together with his fascination for their iconic subjects can be seen.
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Bosich draws his inspiration from regular visits to the Old Master paintings at the National Gallery in London, the antiquities collections of London’s British Museum (Assyrian, Mesoamerican, Greek, Mesopotamian), combined with regular walks around the wooded landscapes of the artist’s home in North London’s Highgate and Finsbury Park. Many a landscape of the Old Masters appears and interacts with memories and evocative fictions.
In addition to the new paintings, we are delighted to have the opportunity to exhibit a selection of the artist’s drawings. This imaginative selection of drawings cover a period of more than nine years, both on-site at the British Museum and in the artist’s studio, where he would often continue working on the drawings, embellishing them with his unique dream-like visions. The drawings convey an extraordinary dialogue between this contemporary artist’s Latin American cultural sensibility and the British Museum’s antiquities collection viewed through a Eurocentric prism.
Mixed media
62 x 44.5 cm
Ancient art has an evocative presence that is never merely visual. Bosich’s multi-sensory response to the antiquities give a tactile, textured quality to his drawings, using pencil, ink and wine, as his response to the materiality and iconography of the antiquities, and his fascination for their fragmentation over the course of history. The artist’s use of the unconventional ink and wine has uncanny parallels with a poem by the 13th century mystic, Abraham Abulafia, often cited by the artist, about perceiving our soul as blood and our spirit as ink, and that understanding the battle that rages between them is our key to self-knowledge.
Symbols are embodied to play and multiply with each other and new forms are reconfigured as the artist navigates these ancient époques. The drawings thus represent a form of artistic ‘time-travel’, a fusion of past, present, and future into a cohesive whole.
The artworks contain a playful, vibrant and sensual dance between what is observed and what is added by suggestion. Something vital from before our culture seeps through, causing reconnection with a primeval realm.
“By drawing directly from artifacts, in their presence, I necessarily disrupt their equilibrium. As if I ‘open them up’, but not by deconstructing or interpreting them. I create a disbalance, a void on the page based on instinct. Through that void, that open space, I later re-enter. When successful, the new artwork brings about its own harmony, its own magical equilibrium akin to the original but this time contemporary.”
— Pato Bosich