CHICAGO, Il. 8/28/13 - THE MISSION is pleased to present universo 1”, an exhibition of new objects and drawings by Argentine artist Gustavo Díaz. In his second solo exhibition in the United States, Díaz investigates the literal concept of contemporary art making. He sidesteps popular culture and the recycling of imagery, and instead turns to astronomy, mathematics, physics, and philosophy to examine the contemporary world.

The artist explores processes on both micro and macro scales through systems theory, revealing their formal, functional, and operative properties. The resulting objects are hybrids of science and aesthetics. His meticulous, multilayered drawings and elaborately assembled, three-dimensional Plexiglas acrylic reliefs are rendered depictions of the visual intricacies of chaos, uncertainty, and imperfection.

Díaz’s calculated, methodical approach to production materializes in the exhibition – from his precise workmanship and skilled constructing of the objects to the viewer’s interaction with the works, which requires proximity and close inspection. Using very few materials – his reliefs are composed of acrylic and vinyl, his drawings simply of pencil and paper – Díaz attaches extraordinary importance to both concepts and craft.

universo 1” opens Friday, September 13 and is on view through Saturday, October 26, 2013.


Photography: Brandon Fields

Source: Knutson, Julie and Fabiola López-Durán, Justification a priori: Science and Aesthetics in the Work of Gustavo Diaz, catalog text, THE MISSION, 2012. Print.