Mario Davalos

Beauty, in its visual forms, is probably one of the most powerful forces in the history of humanity. Carnal attractions, filial love, art and our deep fascination for the natural world, are all visual expressions of our constant search for beauty.

It is very likely that the first manifestations of this transcendental force were expressed to humans through natural phenomenons in truly wild places; the night skies, a herd of elephants, the northern lights… our relationship with the natural world not only defines us as a species, but also as social and cultural beings. Art history is filled with examples of the powerful influence nature has had on our collective visual culture and our relationship with aesthetics.

My work employs contemporary aesthetics and my training as a painter, not only in the use of color and space, but also from strong pictorial influences, especially from the work of Paul Cézanne, J.M.W. Turner, Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell.

I aim to potentiate the man-nature connection through simple and fragile images, and instead of denouncing the pressure over natural resources or documenting scientific phenomenons of behaviors, create images about the last, truly wild places on Earth.

July 2015, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Exhibitions

GROUP SHOWS

2015 Contemporary Istanbul, Vogelsang Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.

2015 Art Hamptons 2015, Vogelsang Gallery, Hamptons, NYC.

2005 Suite Quisqueya, District & Co., Santo Domingo, RD

Blanco & Negro, District & Co., Santo Domingo, RD

2003 Orden del Día, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, RD

2002 27+27 Acciones de Libertad, CODAP, Santo Domingo RD

AIR Otoño 2002, Galería Altos de Chavón, RD

Bienal E. Leon Jimenez, Gran Teatro del Cibao, Santiago, RD

Contexto, Intervenciones Públicas, Santo Domingo, RD (Curado por Antonio Zayas, Charo Orquet y Paula Gómez)

Trienal Elit•Tile, Museo De Arte Moderno Santo Domingo, RD

El Cuerpo del Delito, Museo De Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, RD

2001 Pintura Joven, Casa de Teatro, Santo Domingo, RD

Anual Painting Show, Parsons Gallery, New York

El Espacio en miniaturas, Galeria El Espacio, Santo Domingo, RD

Diversidad Caribe, Galeria Lyle O. Ritzel, RD

1999 Tiempos y Refugios, Fundación de Arte Nouveau, Santo Domingo RD

1998 Interior/Exterior, Café Benetton, Santo Domingo, RD

1997 Resinas de un sueño, Café Benetton, Santo Domingo, RD

SOLO SHOWS

2014 "Irruption", View Arts Center, Old Forge, N.Y.

2013 "Wildscapes", District & Co., Santo Domingo, R.D.

2005 "Trituradores", District & Co., Santo Domingo, RD.

2003 "Bestuario", CRP Arte Actual, La Romana, RD

2002 "Telurismo" ,Casa Simón Bolívar, La Habana, Cuba.

"NY-HAV-SDQ", Casa de Teatro, Santo Domingo, RD

2001 "Manuales", Galeria El Espacio, Santo Domingo, RD.

"DES•(ORDEN)", Union Latina, Circuito IV Bienal del Caribe, RD.

MARIO IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF:

"Narraciones para incriminarme" (short stories) , Shampoo Ediciones, 2003

"Todo lo que quiero es olvidar" (short stories), Capital Books, 2012

"Wildscapes", Capital Books, 2013

"Africa: notas de un viajero", Capital Books, 2014