On a clear night, we see countless stars. Yet, there appears more darkness in the sky than light. Since the number of galaxies and luminous bodies in the universe is almost infinite, one might wonder why so much of the night sky appears dark? Science explains that in an expanding universe, the most remote galaxies move away from us at a speed so great that their light is imperceptible. José Alberto Marchi’s exhibition, The Darkness of Light, suggests that some may see into the darkness of their time and find illumination.

José Alberto Marchi is fascinated by the interrelationships of photography and painting. Marchi’s paintings may suggest early 19th Century photographs, but are in fact highly conceptual contemporary works. The anonymous working-class who are Marchi’s ostensible subjects, inhabit a mundane world transformed by light and space. José Alberto Marchi received Argentina’s Grand Prize for drawing, Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales, 2013. In 2014 he was an artist in residence at Centro de las Artes de San Agustín, Oaxaca, Mexico (at the invitation of Francisco Toledo). In 2016 he received First Prize (for painting) in Argentina’s Salón de Artes Plásticas, Manuel Belgrano.

José Alberto Marchi’s solo-exhibitions include: Solis Flama, Podewil, Berlin, 2004; Música Blanca, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, 2005; Fons Vitae, Patrick Marchal Gallery, Brussels, Belgium, 2007; Tierra Celeste, Cypres Galerie, Leuven, Belgium, 2009; Sacrificio 1 at Latin American Masters, Los Angeles, 2013 and Sacrificio 2 at Mundo Nuevo Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2015.