Just as the cosmos thrives on chaos and order, my art flourishes through the unexpected deviations and imperfections that arise.

(Horacio Quiroz)

JD Malat Gallery is delighted to announce Cosmic debris, by acclaimed Mexican artist Horacio Quiroz. The exhibition will be the artist’s first London show and will be open to the public from 12th September – 5th October 2024.

Born in 1985, Horacio Quiroz is a self-taught contemporary artist based in Mexico City. Since embarking on his artistic journey in 2013, Quiroz has developed a body of work that combines inherent oppositions, blending the beautiful with the grotesque, utopia with dystopia, and the familiar with the unknown. His new exhibition Cosmic debris brings together 8 oil paintings to explore themes of gender, identity, and the environment, deeply reflecting on the fluidity of identity and the interplay between chaos and order.

Quiroz states:

In my paintings, bodies are rendered with rich volumes that defy traditional binaries, presenting themselves as non-binary and intersex. These bodies are fertile, sexual, and exotic, challenging conventional norms and celebrating diversity. Inspired by queer theory, my work seeks to dismantle rigid boundaries and embrace the fluidity of identity. By doing so, I aim to create a visual dialogue that honours the complexity and multiplicity of human existence, inviting viewers to see beyond the confines of conventional gender and sexuality.

With artwork titles such as Apollo and Hyacinthus in an intimate embrace, this series evokes the celestial beings and divine figures of Greek mythology, where gods and titans embody transformations and fluid states of being. The rocky formations in Quiroz’s paintings similarly echo Greek mythology's tales of creation and metamorphosis. Rocks in Quiroz’s art represent cosmic, geological, and human time, embodying the idea of containing chaos within a volume. This creative flexibility allows him to construct bodies that challenge conventional forms and perceptions of the body, gender and sexuality.

Drawing inspiration from Mexico's vibrant hues and bustling streets, Quiroz’s work delves into humanity's role within the broader ecological narrative. He reflects on the paradox of being star-born entities who have become agents of environmental degradation, inviting viewers to ponder our cosmic origins and our responsibility toward the Earth. The tactile quality of his impasto canvases also invites viewers to reflect on the rugged beauty of chance and circumstance in nature. Working with a palette knife, Quiroz embraces unexpected deviations and imperfections, reflecting the unpredictable nature of life and the cosmos.

Rich with pictorial and conceptual analogies, Cosmic debris underlines Quiroz’s place within the age-old art historical dialogue surrounding identity, sexuality, body and earth. Quiroz not only draws inspiration from ancient mythology and the contemporary environment, but also harnesses the complexity of surrealist strategies akin to the renowned Belgian surrealist René Magritte (1898 – 1967), where art strives to balance a rational vision of life with the power of the dreamlike tendencies of the mind. With imagery that displays the familiar in unexpected contexts, Cosmic debris provokes profound questions about the nature and boundaries of reality and representation.