Isabella Despujols
Bio
Born in Venezuela, 1994. She is a visual artist, focused on textile art, specifically hand embroidery. She has a degree in Fine Arts from the Miami International University of Art and Design, United States (2014) and a degree in Art History from the University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2020). She participated in various group exhibitions such as: "Juried Show" at Curator's Voice Art Projects Gallery, Miami, USA (2014); “Young Art Show” at Espacio Cabrera, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2017); "1st Exhibition of Painting with Textile Intervention" at the Argentine Center for Textile Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2018); worked on a textile art installation at Casa FOA, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2019); participated in the collective exhibition “Artistas da Galeria” at the Periscópio Arte Contemporáneo gallery, Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2020), “Mulheres na arte” at the Zaragoza Workshop, São Paulo, Brazil (2021) and in the exhibition “Geometria das Cores” at the Consulate General of Spain in São Paulo, Brazil (2022).
Her participations in Art Fairs were: SP-Arte together with Jackie Shor Projects (2021), at the Art Madrid fair, Madrid, Spain (2022), at the SP-Arte fair, São Paulo, Brazil, both with Jackie Shor Projects ( 2022), at the “SP Arte: Rotas Brasileiras” fair in the ARCA space, in São Paulo together with the Casa Amarela gallery (2022) and at ArtRio, in Marina da Gloria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2022) together with Jackie Shor Projects. Among his individual exhibitions are “Multiple Forms of Continuity in Space” at the Periscope Arte Contemporânea gallery in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (2021) and “Geometria Bordada” at the Garaje Lola space, Madrid, Spain (2021).
The artist's upcoming exhibitions include: Feira de Arte Pinta Miami, Miami, United States (November 2022), Feira SP-Arte, São Paulo, Brazil (April 2023) together with Jackie Shor Projects, individual exhibition at the Museu de Arte Moderna of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil (May 2023), and the ArtRio Fair, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (September 2023). Currently her work is part of important collections and the collection of the Inhotim Institute Museum (2021)
Statement
In seeking a balance between the mathematical rationality of the forms and the delicacy of the manual work of embroidery, Isabella Despujols is inserted in other Latin American artistic approaches, such as the concept of "sensitive geometry.” The carefully constructed forms in each composition are inspired in last century’s concrete, optical and kinetic movements. The preference for the practice and the textile material is not capricious since the artist's main objective is to exalt and elevate the feminine tradition of embroidery, usually confined to artisanal and domestic environment. In the attempt to obtain a synthesis between idea and form, the artist singularly intertwines geometry and craftsmanship, giving movement to threads sewn in sophisticated modulations of colors, textures, and rhythmic vibrations. Despite being static works, this series of "embroideries" made from colorful threads sewn directly to the stretcher's surface provoke a sensation of movement in the viewer. As one passes in front of the works, new colors emerge, and others disappear. Drawing on the legacy of concrete, optical, and kinetic movements-especially the poetics of fellow artists Jesús Rafael Soto (1923-2005) and Carlos Cruz-Diez (1923-2019), Isabella's "embroideries" also explore line as an essential element of the composition.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
