Sunday, December 8, 2024

Monumental Paintings by Eamon Ore-Giron Translate Cultural Symbols into Vivid Geometries

Must read



Art

#Eamon Ore-Giron #mythology #painting

A person stands in front of a massive painting with circular structures, fringe like forms, and serpentine qualities

“Talking Shit with Amaru” (2021), mineral paint and flashe on canvas, 132 x 204 inches. All images © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York, shared with permission

A mélange of architectural structures, cosmic mappings, South American textiles, hieroglyphics, and Indigenous symbols emerge in vivid, balanced color in Eamon Ore-Giron’s paintings. Often rendered in flashe and mineral paint on large-scale linen canvases, the works are enveloping and visionary, transporting the viewer into Ore-Giron’s flat, geometric vistas.

Currently based in Los Angeles, the artist is deeply influenced by his surroundings. He was raised in Tucson by a Peruvian father and mother of Irish descent, embedding him within a distinct medley of global cultures from Latino and Indigenous to Andean and European. The visual language of this mixed heritage is evident in his paintings, particularly his more recent Talking Shit and Infinite Regress series.

On view now as part of Competing with Lightning / Rivalizando con el relámpago at The Contemporary Austin, the works make a stark departure from Ore-Giron’s earlier figurative pieces and instead favor symmetries, geometric shapes, and ancient motifs. The more vibrant of the series is Talking Shit, which was born out of the artist’s time in Guadalajara, and engages with the gods of Mexican and Peruvian cultures. In the massive, 204-inch-wide “Talking Shit with Amaru,” Ore-Giron interprets the mythological serpentine creature of Incan and Andean lore. The two-headed beast is thought to transcend boundaries between the spiritual and earthly worlds, which appears in the work through careful cross-sections and a shapely form that leads in several directions.

Infinite Regress shifts to metallics, with wide swaths of gold emanating from a central totemic form. “In philosophy, infinite regress is a sequence of reasoning which can never come to an end: a paradox of infinite regeneration that disproves the concept of fixed knowledge—in connecting one element to another, a third one is always interpolated and so on, endlessly,” a statement about the series says. Through thin lines reaching distant intersections and circles nestled in color-blocked stripes, many of the works evoke a distant horizon, the always unreachable and ever-recurring point.

If you’re in Austin, you can see Competing with Lightning / Rivalizando con el relámpago through August 20. Otherwise, find more of Ore-Giron’s works on his site.

A symmetric character with a wide headdress stands with teeth bared

“Talking shit with Coatlicue” (2017), flashe on linen, 79 9/10 × 65 inches

A geometric painting with circular forms at the top center and pillars with stripes, all in black and cool tones

“Black Medallion XXIII” (2023), mineral paint and flashe on linen, 72 x 72 inches. Photo by Charles White/JWPictures.com, © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York, and Fleisher/Ollman,

Philadelphia

geometric shapes in blues and greens appear to grow upwards with circles and pointed forms

“Night Shade” (2016), flashe on linen, 84 x 60 inches

A geometric painting with circular forms at the top center and spread in a circle along the bottom, all in gold, blues, and neutrals

“Infinite Regress CLXXXIV” (2021), flashe and mineral paint on linen, 120 x 120 inches. Photo by Charles White/JWPictures.com, © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York, and Fleisher/Ollman, Philadelphia

A geometric painting with circular forms at the top center and spread in a circle along the bottom with thin lines, all in black, blue, purples, and reds

“Black Medallion XV (Mama-Quilla)’ (2023), mineral paint and flashe on linen, 174 x 300 inches. Photo by Charles White/JWPictures.com, © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York, and Fleisher/Ollman,

Philadelphia

A geometric painting with circular forms at the top center and circles and triangles in a motif at the bottom, all in gold, blues, greens, and neutrals

“Infinite Regress CLXXXVIII” (2021), mineral paint and flashe on linen, 120 x 156 inches. Photo by Charles White/JWPictures.com, © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist, James Cohan, New York, and Fleisher/Ollman,

Philadelphia

Three paintings hang in a gallery

Installation view, Eamon Ore-Giron: Competing with Lightning/Rivalizando con el relámpago, The Contemporary Austin (2023). Artwork © Eamon Ore-Giron, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo by Alex Boeschenstein, courtesy of The Contemporary Austin

Eamon Ore-Giron paints with a very tiny brush on a circular form

The artist at work on “Talking Shit with Amaru”

#Eamon Ore-Giron #mythology #painting

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. You’ll connect with a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, read articles and newsletters ad-free, sustain our interview series, get discounts and early access to our limited-edition print releases, and much more. Join now!

More articles

Latest article