The Lyle O. Reitzel Contemporary Art Gallery, founded in 1995 and celebrating its 28th anniversary of existence, has inaugurated the long-awaited solo exhibition of the revered artist Ignacio Iturria, titled “Chaos & Orden”, in its space in Piantini Tower; this being the artist’s second individual exhibition in Dominican territory.
In 2016, his historic debut exhibition in Santo Domingo, organized by the gallery, marked a cultural tsunami for the ages. During this time, the artist was part of an artistic residency in Portillo, Samaná, courtesy of Valeria de Moya. “Caos & Orden” presents an exquisite selection of works from different eras at a retrospective level, including a period from 1997-2023. In the words of the artist:
Now, together with my dear Lyle, a group of works have been chosen from different periods, which can bring my view of the world and its circumstances closer. In recent years, the paintings appear more baroque and full of infinite information. I think that entering the world of zapping and the multiplicity of images that we see on the net have made many ideas move and mix in my head. The objects and people in the paintings have different scales and intertwined themes. After fighting with the chaos of stains with which the paintings began, these are finally transformed into the infinity of things that surround us, leaving that chaos organized for me. Everything fits in my paintings, and this is how I once again describe today's world. Many times I have thought that I was and am a subjective chronicler of my time.
The Argentine writer Sergio Chejfec states the following: “In these works, we find a theater of the pictorial execution itself; the intimate status of the scenarios represented; a panoramic treatment of the gaze; the unusual proportions of things and individuals, far from any real scale. Iturria's scenes seek to say something more or different than what they supposedly show. At the same time, his paintings stage their existence as paintings. They are exhibition devices.”