Contradictory feelings of weight, tension and levity run throughout Jose Dávila’s works. Taking as a starting point materials and imagery that push the limits of our perception, Dávila creates works that show a delicate yet elegant—and often literal—balancing act between varying elements. Taking inspiration from the ideals put in place by the 20th century avant-garde, Dávila re-contextualise artists, iconic artworks, and raw materials.

Figures and details are cutout and reworked. Unexpected elements are brought into focus. Heavy materials are juxtaposed with almost impossibly gentle placements. The result is atmospheric and almost performance-like, permeating the space through which Dávila’s works are placed, drawing us in as we wait to see if things will stand or fall.

Jose Dávila (b. 1974, Mexico) has had notable solo exhibitions at Museo Jumex (Mexico City), Hamburger Kunsthalle (Hamburg), Marfa Contemporary (Marfa), Camden Arts Centre (London), and many others. His work can be found in the public collections of Centre Pompidou (Paris), Albright Knox Museum (Buffalo), Collection Deutsche Bank (Germany), MUDAM Museum of Modern Art (Luxembourg), Reina Sofia National Museum of Art (Madrid), MALBA Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art (Argentina), MUAC Museum of Contemporary Art Mexico City (Mexico City), Collection Inhotim (Brumadinho), and Zabludowicz Collection (London), and Museo Jumex (Mexico City) among others.

Dávila has had recent solo show exhibitions at Haus Konstruktiv (Zurich), Sammlung Philara (Dusseldorf), Franz Josefs Kai 3 (Vienna), Museo del Novecento (Florence), Dallas Contemproary (Dallas), and Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Querétaro (Santiago de Querétaro), and has also recently had and a year-long public project in Los Angeles in connection Getty’s Pacific and Los Angeles Nomadic Divison (LAND).

carrie emberlyn