Marcelo Larrosa
Statement
Marcelo Larrosa is an abstract artist in all the dimension given to this concept by “La escuela del sur”, Uruguayan movement impulsed by Joaquín Torres García towards 1934 when he settled definitely in Montevideo in 1934 after 43 years of trajectory in the European and American vanguard movements. “La escuela del sur” aims to create a work of art with a plain painting technique, pure colors, the use of the golden ratio and structural concepts to give form to an idea. Marcelo takes from this ideas to build his own language and give form to his own train of thought.
The commodity in Marcelo´s work is language itself, where he considers each type as a form and a text as an image. The artist creates images that at first sight invite the spectator to read and make sense of the text that is proposed but that at a closer look reveal a tangle of unreadable fonts: deformed, twisted and inverted. By this logic Marcelo Larrosa subverts the logic of writing itself, writing out literally something that cannot be read to represent the indescribable.
With his work Marcelo aims to arrive to a universal expression where an artwork conceived as a message is in fact a myriad open to multiple interpretations.
Working with the same methods of La escuela del sur”, Larrosa works following an artisanal method, creating his own pigments and canvases according to traditional methods and simple materials as though by his mentor Julio Alpuy.
The work of the Uruguayan artist Marcelo Larrosa Martinatto, a direct student of master Julio Alpuy, is focused on language. Following in line with the constructivist tradition, it twists the limits in art and considers letters as forms and texts as images. Letters with their configurations are a visual resource of great rhythm that mixes figure and background, producing an impeccable gestalt. Exploring the boundaries between painting and writing, in favor of the creation of universal signs and symbols. Symbols that bring together, that unify, that flexibilize and that give us an infinite number of possible messages in its constructive universalism.
BIO Marcelo Larrosa (Uruguay, 1971)
He studied with Carlos Medina (Barquisimeto) Venezuela. Disciple of Julio Alpuy and Anhelo Hernández. In 2003 he got a scholarship at Palazzo Spinelli Florence Italy. In 2007 he created his workshop at the request of Julio Alpuy and gives classes based on constructive principles in doing. His works are in collections such as Fundación Phoeebus (Katoen Natie) Bélgica, Fundación Daniela Chappard Venezuela, Museo del Barco Escuela Ruso Sedov, Museo de Tacuarembó Uruguay, among others.
2022 - Embassy of Uruguay in Washington Dc,"the work itself" Battle | Larrosa | Serra
2021 - “Notations”, Mazzoni Museum; Amoris Laetitia Exhibition San Salvador de Grijo Monastery; Virginia SÉ Portugal Art Gallery; “Serra – Batalla – Larrosa” Rofa Projects Gallery, Maryland USA
2020 - “Homage to Julio Uruguay Alpuy”, Art History Museum, Montevideo; IkiGai Art Gallery. Rome Italy; “Covimetry” 2020-2021 Poland-USA; "Correspondences" group show at the Atchugarry Foundation, Maldonado
2019 - Designed and produced the curtain and set design for the play Bokeh at the Teatro Solís; “Archivo degli Angeli” project, Milan; “Constructivo-Madí, Larrosa-Britez”, within the framework of the Milan Poetry Festival; "Tribute to Julio Uruguay Alpuy", Mazzoni Museum, Maldonado
2018 - “Constructivo-Madí-Deconstructivo” en París. ; “LA art show” - Rofa Projects; “Volta Art Fair” - Rofa Projects; “Art Marbella” - Rofa Projects
2017 - “La Tradición Rebelada”. Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales de Montevideo; Context art Miami - Rofa Projects
2016 - “Constructivo-Madí” en Milán, Torino & Buenos Aires
2015 - He is part of the Katoen Natie collection, being represented with a work in the book "Art from Latin America" by Laurens Dhaenens Belgium; Arte Abstracto Uruguayo Saronno
2013 - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo El País
1999 - “Passion et raison d´un espírit constructif”, Biarritz, Francia