Hugo Garcia Urrutia + MK Semos:
Wooden Postcards
Fantasyland - custom print on reclaimed wood flooring
30 x 22 in / 76 x 56 cm - 2011
30 x 22 in / 76 x 56 cm - 2011
Wooden Postcards - Artist Statement
Working primarily in recycled substrates and materials, Hugo Garcia Urrutia and MK Semos do what they do best, unifying image and form along with celebrating Western world capitals, in their current body of work, Wooden Postcards.
The photography work created by Semos and Garcia Urrutia in this collaborative exhibition is an ongoing body of work and visual interpretation of an urban landscape, full of nostalgia, decay and charm, from New York City, London, Mexico City, and other cities around the globe, as places of inner experience as well as urban sprawl. Like a web slowly forming, these special hubs of the world act as melting pots, cradling vast amounts of cultures and ideas; Live organisms that become cultural icons themselves.
The imagery is initially created by Semos, who utilizes a manual, very basic Holga film camera, allowing her to create and manufacture intuitive collages of composition inside the camera by overlapping frames and double exposing the film. Later, after processing the film, "story boards" are chosen from her lengthy narrative of images, signs, pop-color, and surprise code. Her cross-processing technique gives colors maximum saturation.
What Semos' imagery seems to lack in people, is actually all about people. It describes how congregations move, whispers of what they create, and implies the energetic footprint they've left behind.
The work is taken to another level with the expert effort of Garcia Urrutia, as he experiments with different un-orthodox substrates and photographic finishes. The imagery is integrated with reclaimed hardwood floors in this case, allowing the viewer to experience the grains and truest colors of the wood; the quality and grains of the wood becoming part of the image composition. The recycled hardwood floor is also evocative of the high volume imagery that the viewer can see in the artwork itself, reminding one of the concentrated effort of foot-traffic associated with the worn footprint that we all leave behind.
Wooden Postcards - Hugo Garcia Urrutia
Architectural training is always very prominent in the work of Hugo Garcia Urrutia, originally from Juarez, Mexico. Graduated from Texas Tech University in 2000, with a Bachelor of Architecture and Design, Garcia Urrutia worked in the field professionally for five years before founding the Decorazon Gallery in Dallas' Bishop Arts District in 2004. He has participated in national and international art-architecture competitions and public projects including the 2000 National Urban Poetry I Competition sponsored by AIA Cincinnati and International Architecture Competition sponsored by magazine, ARQUINE, 2005. Most recently he has participated in exhibitions by curator, Charissa N. Terranova PhD, at University of Dallas, and one upcoming at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary (MAC) Dallas, presenting large-scale installation art material he has been developing in response to Mexico's rising acts of violence and challenges the country faces. Interested in strong concept and exploring different mediums, Garcia Urrutia conveys his message in a very indirect format, while creating visual simulation for the viewer.
Wooden Postcards - MK Semos
Greek-American photographer MK Semos is a highly committed professional whose deep appreciation of beauty and culture can be found in each of her photographs. She specializes in travel, portrait, and environmental art photography, but is most well known for her 10+ years of work with the Holga camera. Born in Dallas, Texas, she earned Bachelor Degrees in Photojournalism and Photo-Illustration from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995. Semos' love and devotion to travel translates directly into the kinetic energy one feels while viewing her images. She has freelanced for New York Magazine, Business Traveler and Timeout NY, and recently her artwork has been highlighted and reviewed in publications as The Dallas Morning News and Daily Candy. She currently divides her time between New York City and Dallas, Texas, as she, with her partner, Garcia Urrutia, owns and operates the Decorazon Gallery.
Hugo Garcia Urrutia and MK Semos first collaborated in 2005, when they did a public art project in the form of a life-size photography art installation in the newly constructed Rosemont Primary School, Chris V. Semos campus. They have been collaborating ever since.
The latest news on this collaborative team is that they have earned an artist in residency with the luxe Fairmont Hotel chain, where they will be producing brand-new artwork in-house, in the Fairmont's downtown Dallas location, from April through June 2011.
Wooden Postcards - as featured in The Bangkok Post
Hugo G. Urrutia - Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)
MK Semos - Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)