Bucarolito is Spanish artist Alfonso Borragán’s first exhibition in the United States.
The action at the center of each of Borragán’s experiences is “to ingest” and to inscribe and reveal an image through this action. A sort of alchemy. For, in his environment of magenta phyto lights and dusty air, groups ingest stones together. In this case, they eat bucaros, which are small, unfired clay vessels eaten by the Spanish Aristocracy in the 17th century. Clay and earth ingestion is an ancient practice. There are traces of Egyptian ingestions of the Limes of Nile. Partially eaten ceramics have been found in Greece. Romans imported Greek edible ceramics with great impact; they led to terra sigillata. Bucaros appear in Renaissance still lives and in Diego Velázquez’s painting Las Meninas. Those who ate them believed its properties could transform human matter.
As with the Bucarolito, which is the confluence of two years of work and research, Alfonso Borragán’s art practice builds on extensive periods of research. He collaborates with teams of scientists, anthropologists, geologists and other technicians who expand and develop different visions during these processes.
Alfonso Borragán studied Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona and continued his training at the MFA Slade School of Fine Arts London where he is completing his doctorate. He works and lives in London. Previous iterations of Borragán’s Litofagosseries took place in Barcelona and Alberta, Canada and Zagreb Croatia. He has shown internationally, with solo and two-person exhibitions in Canada, Spain, Colombia and the UK.
Opening Reception: Sep 6, 2019, 6 PM
Be the first to comment