Written in the Stars by Teresita Fernández

By artefuse On 09/24/2012 · Leave a Comment · In New York

Hero and Leander (2011) by Teresita Fernández

Under the blanket of the Night Sky at Lehmann Maupin

“I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance.” – E. E. Cummings

Lehmann Maupin Gallery on Chrystie Street was under a canopy of beautiful Aurora Borealis colors and thousands of stars as they presented the work of Teresita Fernández for her fifth solo exhibition with an opening on September 12^th. Everyone’s thoughts and eyes turned up to the sky with the latest series of works that Fernández created consisting of a large-scale installation in the dual height space of the gallery along with prints of the night sky dotted with messages for the show “Night Writing”.

Teresita Fernández, artist

Excelsior (2011) by Teresita Fernández

Meet the Gallery Guys at Lehmann Maupin

The large scale installation built on site consisted of translucent colored layers of polycarbonate tubes cut and attached to mimic the wave like undulating pattern of the borealis lights with its bands of color as seen on the prints. Dusky grays transitioning into purplish magenta to opaque sections make for a dramatic visual but the scale of either viewing it from above or walking below it gives an alluring effect of feeling so small in one of nature’s show stopping splendors. This spectacle of the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis are naturally occurring light displays that happen in high altitude regions as a result of collision from energetic charged particles with the thermosphere. The rarity of experiencing it in the moment and encased by the piece’s magnificence was an ambitious study in scale coupled with the viewer’s personal impression largely played into the idea of Fernández exploring ephemeral aspects of the visual.

Tristan and Isolde (2011) by Teresita Fernández

The view from above of the installation by Fernández

For the prints she created while in residency at the Singapore Tyler institute, the hand-made works on paper are perforated with circles and the background of the mirror behind it gives the illusion of the Braille-like pattern to resemble night time constellations. Titles such as Tristan and Isolde, Hero and Leander – are mythic stories and as such that the stars are the end result of their fate. The titles of each work are translated into Braille then made into a composition of points on the night sky print. The effect is once more cryptic but the languorous landscape drives one to their own introspection as to decipher its hidden codes personally.