Coordenadas

Maps and other models of representation based on quadrants and coordinates not only influenced the aesthetics of the production of modern art but also have implied and demonstrated ways in which creativity adopted ideas such as planning, projection and experimentation.  The strategies and artistic practices of Mario Rangel Faz involved a more complex method than the mere arrangement of the comings-and-goings of a fly on a Cartesian diagram. Inspired by his participation in the Grupo SUMA and the artist collective Atte. la Dirección, they sought to capture within their aesthetic spectrum such apparently disparate worlds as urban graphics and aerial landscapes, finding commonalities between the gestures of graffiti and oriental calligraphy.

As is evident in this exhibition, Rangel's participation in the Grupo SUMA furthered the use of modular structures in his works, as well as references to maps and other imaginaries with scientific and technological origins. This attitude represents more than an stylistic tendency, since the artist incorporated systematic models into his work in his eagerness to become creatively involved with such complex fields as collective work, teaching, history, and rural and urban areas.

Rangel's voracious imaginary world embraced pre-Hispanic codices, old and recent photogravures, anatomical charts, and symbols from ancient traditions:  in Rangel's work, different histories and places come together in unexpected ways.  Likewise, the models that Rangel makes use of from his first interdisciplinary experiences include sequences in series as well as chance elements, as undetermined as the flight of a fly.