Creating an intensely personal body of work is a challenging task for any artist, requiring the most intimate and painful parts of one’s life to be exposed to the public.  But producing a body of work that transcends the personal and becomes universal is indeed a much harder undertaking.  Angel Delgado’s first solo show in the United States, presented at the Couturier Gallery, is a great example of how an artist can translate his own personal experiences into a universal language.  Knowing about the artist’s personal history may help in understanding the symbolic meaning behind the body of work presented but in no way is this biographical knowledge necessary.  The soap sculptures, drawings on bed sheets, handkerchief series and suitcase installations in this exhibit tell a story of confinement and conformity, an individual being devoured by society, held against his will with no escape.

In 1990 Delgado spend six months in prison as a result of his performance art piece in Havana, where he defecated in public on top of a Cuban communist newspaper.   During this time he created works of art from the found materials of his confinement, soap sculptures and drawings using color pencils on a canvas of handkerchiefs.  The continuation of these media after his incarceration speaks to the significance that this short period of time had upon his life and how it has colored his views of the world since.

Solid unbroken lines are drawn upon a canvas of used bed sheets, stained by its user. The inclusion of the stains here reference a personal history, perhaps one of violence.  Are these the remainders of the blood, the sweat and tears shed by the prisoner?  Upon this canvas the black and white drawings are clearly rendered, reflecting the strong spirit of the artist, unbroken during confinement.  There are two types of depictions here.  One is the depiction of symbolic objects such as clothes, shoes, razor, and a heart, placed centrally in the composition and elevated to an iconic status. (Untitled 3 (from the horizontal series), 2002, color pencil, cold cream on sheet, 78.7" x 59”)  The second type of depiction is the more abstracted and narrative images of figures within environments, hovering around the borders of the composition as if attempting to escape it all together.  (Untitled 4 (from the horizontal series), 2002, color pencil, cold cream on sheet, 78.7" x 59”)  The use of cold cream as a ground for the pencil drawings speaks of the artist’s continual interest in the found material of his former confinement.  These images also reference the nightmares dreamt by its user, echoes of the unconscious mind imprinted visually on the sheets of the dreamer.
 
The Serie Memorias Acumuladas (Accumulated Memories) series are the soap sculptures installed on the gallery walls, encased in wooden boxes, each soap claustrophobically set next to the other in a series of rows.  Installed in this way, these sculptures remind us of relics found in a museum, or perhaps animals on display in a zoo, objectified by the gaze of the viewer.  Encased within the soap are objects such as dice, pencils, chess pieces, plastic animal figures and car keys.  (Serie Memorias acumuladas (Accumulated Memories ) (chess), 2004, wood, soap and various objects, 28-1/4 x 6 x 2- 3/8)  While these objects are repeated in each case of soap they are each unique and individual in their shape, size or color.  Some of these are remnants of the activities that the prisoners engaged in during their confinement, a reference to Delgado’s biography.  Soap as a cleansing agent is also used as a metaphor here, washing away the sins committed, cleansing and renewing.  There is hope implied here.  The objects that are trapped inside are doubly bound, first in the soap and again in the wooden boxes.  Although this visual ploy emphasizes the psychological effects of confinement it also speaks in a larger way to the viewer.  Are we perhaps trapped in our own boxes, defined by the roles that society dictates to us?

Another body of work presented in this exhibit is the handkerchief series, displayed either individually or in a large group such as the Pañuelos series.  These mixed media pieces are more complex aesthetically.  The layering technique used by Delgado creates a three-dimensional effect within the flat square, drawing the viewer closer to inspect the contents within the images.  The pencil drawn figures are laid on top of photographs of locks, barbed wired, buildings and various other scenes of restraint.  (Límite continuo XII (Continuous Limit XII), 2008, digital printing, color pencil, cold cream and handkerchief, 15.6" x 15.4”)  The figures are anonymous, drawn without any facial features as if they have been denied a specific identity.  In each image the figure interacts with the photograph but always remains separate from it, as if belonging to another world. The decorative borders of the handkerchiefs confine the figures within and the square edge of the handkerchief further traps these figures.  There is no escape here.  These pieces also invoke a collective memory, a recollection of events that are not specific to one place and time but universal and eternal.

The space in the middle of the gallery is reserved for the two suitcase installations, each set on pedestals and arranged so that the viewer can peer down upon their content and walk around them.  Inside the suitcases rows of sculpted sheep (made from soap) are arranged uniformly and confined within the borders.  The reflective surface of the inside multiplies the figures to infinity and is a successful trompe l’oiel, extending our vision beyond the contents inside.  The lids of the suitcases are left open for the viewers to see, the contents visible and on display, but at any moments these lids could shut and the figures could disappear from our very eyes.  (Hacia Donde Vamos, XI (Where We Go, XI), 2008, soap, metal suitcase, and cloth, 10.6" x 11.8" x 7.5")  This is at once playful and ominous.  Delgado’s theme of oppression is repeated here in a sophisticated and new presentation, inviting the viewer to become part of the work.

There are numerous factors that contribute to the overall success of this exhibit but the most striking ones are Delgado’s repeated use of formal devices and unconventional materials to convey his theme of restraint and confinement.  The square is employed as a formal device, trapping its contents within, with no hope for escape.  Another formal device is the repetition of figures,  becoming symbolic of conformity, of the individual’s loss of identity within society.  The found medium used by Delgado, unconventional material such as soap, bed sheets and handkerchiefs also contribute to these existing themes while creating a sense of intimacy, a unique personal expression that is Delgado’s own.  The beauty of this however is that this intensely personal expression transcends to a universal level.  We can all relate to the feeling of confinement, whether it is self created or imposed upon us by the larger societies we live in.  Angel Delgado’s exhibit is a reminder for us that we are not alone and that we all participate in a collective and universal narrative.

Press release from Couturier Gallery, Angel Delgado “Limite Continuo/Continuous Limit”, 2009.