David Rios Ferreira‘s energetic drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations flirt with cacophony yet manage to stay on the verge, creating an idiosyncratic sense of order out of chaotic turmoils. Through turbulent lines and vibrant colors, his imagery projects a rigorous visual universe where Geo-political and mythical narratives fuse organically. David Rios Ferreira shares with Art Spiel the main ideas behind his work, elaborates on some specific projects, and sheds some light on his prolific curatorial practice. Although our interview process started a few months before the Corona pandemic and the recent global protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement, David Rios Ferreira added his response to the current events, implemented at the beginning of this interview.
AS: Our interview was conducted a while before the Corona pandemic. Life has changed since. How are you coping these days and what are your thoughts about the road ahead?
David Rios Ferreira: Life has changed since we began this interview, in more ways everyday. I have been working from home since the Children Museum of Manhattan closed to the public on March 14. Shortly after, New York and New Jersey (I live in Jersey City) issued orders to shelter in place due to the rise in Covid-19 cases. I was prepared in some ways and not in others. However, being at home has allowed me to slow down a bit, to reflect.
My first solo show in New York scheduled for April was postponed as well as other projects, but the need to continue making work was something oddly enough I couldn’t escape. Conducting my studio practice at home has been challenging, but one that has opened up new ways of thinking about my work and informed new avenues in my personal relationships with my husband. We have found a great rhythm in creating art together at the end of every workday. I’ve also had formative discussions via text, phone and zoom with artist friends and colleagues discussing both the evolution of our work and reflecting on this current moment. Also, universities moving online paved a way for requests for artist talks and zoom panels which have given me the opportunity to reflect on my work— what I have done thus far and ultimately informing where I’d like to go (for instance, I’ve delivered artist talks and produced a virtual studio visit for the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey).
While I am blessed that my family is healthy and safe, these last couple of weeks have been emotionally erratic. With the murder of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and countless others by the police, and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black brothers and sisters by white supremacists, its been difficult navigating my emotions. I’ve been thinking about these issues and events as an artist, as someone with young Black and Brown little ones in their life, and in my work in a museum where I want to be responsive to both the public (which includes children) and my fellow colleagues. We are seeing a lot of heartfelt messages of solidarity from museums these days but we haven’t seen, both historically in practice and in current promises, plans to change systems that perpetuate inequality and inequity in these spaces. One can hope these spaces move past what Kaisha Johnson in her article, “Enough Already with the Statements of “Solidarity,” Arts World,”says is an inactive approach to “changing hearts and minds,” but instead, by her urging, move to systems of change and real action.
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Read the full interview at artspiel.com