Solo exhibition Xavier Robles de Medina:

‘als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn’ (if the whole body were an ear)

On July 5^th Readytex Art Gallery presents her first solo exhibition for the year 2018. It is visual artist Xavier Robles de Medina who will then ‘have the stage’ with an exhibition that is innovative and contemporary in both design and content. He gives the exhibition – as he often does with titles – an intriguing name: ‘als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn’ (if the whole body were an ear).

It is the first solo exhibition of Xavier Robles de Medina at Readytex Art Gallery and in Suriname. This young Surinamese artist who completed his first art degree at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the USA, is currently working on his MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths in London. In the meantime, Xavier has expanded his artistic experience by working and participating in exhibitions in the Netherlands, the USA, Belgium, France, Zimbabwe, England and last year also with a Thursday-Night-Feature at Readytex Art Gallery.  

‘als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn’ is an exhibition of contemporary art that is bound to challenge many a viewer’s traditional frameworks of artistic interpretation. Each work, just like the title, is unique and intriguing. Each work of art comes about from a carefully thought-out concept and a highly detailed and time-consuming creative process.  Xavier studies and dissects the work and theories of artists and authors from centuries past and incorporates the inspiration he derives, into his own work in a highly individualized manner, often referring to the base subject metaphorically or as a subtle allusion.

He creates among other things, a zoomorphic mask based on etches from the Flemish artist Frans Huys (1522), alludes to the theory of the cult value ascribed to hidden or covered works of art, and the concepts he conceives are generally influenced by his interest in an essay written by cultural philosopher and writer Walter Benjamin (1892) about the reproducibility of art. But ‘regular’ hair product advertisements, a deformed image of an ear, or specific fragments from video images, also lead to surprising works of art in various styles and techniques. He also involves students from Nola Hatterman Art Academy in his exhibition in a special way. In short, this is an exhibition that no art lover should miss. And indeed, how would we be able to enjoy all of this, …. if the whole body were an ear….???

Readytex Art Gallery invites everyone to visit this interesting exhibition. Because Xavier Robles de Medina is a young Surinamese artist who is gradually yet convincingly making his mark on an ever-expanding international art scene, and his career is certainly worth keeping a close eye on.  

‘als het hele lichaam oor zou zijn’ is open to the public from Friday the 6^th thru Saturday the 14^th of July, from Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm, and on Saturdays from 8:30am - 1:30 pm. Also open at night on Friday the 6^th and Saturday the 7^th of July from 7:00 – 9:00 pm.