Rubén Chuela

The artwork of Rubén Chuela – a Michoacano artist – is observed by Argelia Castillo in depth. In his recent contribution, he delivers elaborated points of view that speak of the strange and magnificence of Chuela’s iconography. Rubén Chuela’s collection has a freeing element that is laden with suggestions, inviting universal forms that call to be known, and recognized perhaps decipherable through archaic and modern codes. Spaces are evocative where the elements and originating artistic concepts are intuitive and derived from different times and cultures. His artwork forms an essence that conciliates with originality the contrast of the diverse and capriciousness of the synchrony. This candid and attentive sensitivity along with his creative capacity supported by the profession and propelled by the pressing desire of experimentation, has led this artist to incorporate different techniques that journey through languages that go from the neofigurative to the abstract. ... continued below

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	Art Details
	CENTINELA 2007 Cobre martillado y resina epoxica sobre madera 60 x 60 cm.
	CON EL JARDIN EN LA FALDA 2007 Acrilico sobre tela 60 x 50 cm
	GUANANCHAS 2007 Acrilico sobre tela 60 x 50 cm
	ICARUS I 2007 Madera tallada, cobre martillado, soldado y baño de estaño Sobre pedestal de acero Med. Variables
	SUNRISE 2007 oil on cooper 60 x 60 cm
	FOREST GREEN 2007 oleo sobre cobre 60 x 60 cm
	COLORES DE RUTILIA 2007 Acrilico sobre tela 50 x 60 cm
	PREPARANDO LA CELEBRACION 2007 Acrílico sobre tela y aplicación de láminal martillada, soldado y patinado 100 x 140 cm
	UNA MIRADA AL PAISAJE, 2007 Ensamble de lamina martillada, cobre, madera Sobre paneles de madera. 125 x 115 cm.
	VALLARTA Y SUS CUATRO ESTACIONES, 2007 Acrilico, arena y cobre ensamblado 100 x 120 cm.

The artwork of Rubén Chuela – ... continued from above In the case of this artist born in Charapan, in 1961, his abstract proposal is the product of a long gestation, and also an indicator that shows it gaining terrain in his works of figurative embeddings Thus, in his work made of metal, the human figure is unveiled in the interior shining of aureola marks or remains immersed in masses of vigorous tonalities. Often, the silver-plated brightness of that contrast with the polychromatic backgrounds, or the now oxidized that create insinuating atmospheres of primitive yearnings, as in the adamic themed series, or settings that renew the Renaissance devotion of the anatomy like in the recreations of torsos and dorsos animated by mysterious streaks and symbols. Chuela transforms the metallic sheets that he hammers to later age, applies color to, coats with oxide, folds, welds and/or assembles - with such skill and passion that evokes the centennial importance of copper workmanship practiced within his native state’s popular culture in arrangements of interesting textures and nebulous fragments or ethereal spaces where nomadic solar and lunar spheres float. The luminaries, sun, moon, and other celestial entities reappear with insistence in his oil and acrylics paintings on canvas, like in his mixed technique on paper, which undoubtedly registers this particular artwork in the cosmic tradition of Mexican art identifiable with art from Pre-Hispanic sculptures and architecture to the paintings of Tamayo. Yet, the reiterated astral references in Chuela’s work is confirmed less as a motif (detectable in works of surrealists accused of being reminiscent) and more as a sign. In fact, his plastic arts creations open passages to graphics, not only of solar globes, half moons, stars, and geometric figures admirable attributions of modern masters like Miro and Klee, but also, of vertical and horizontal rays, discontinued or waved lines, zigzagged or diagonal, arrows, crosses, symbols of the masculine and feminine, of the more or the less, of the positive and negative, codes or formulas, and calligraphy; in summary, a vocabulary of signs with ideographical values. The fortune of this invasion of ritual hieroglyphics takes place in the middle of a process during which it intensifies the immediate concerns and preoccupations of the artist with the subject and textures. In order to confer almost tactile qualities to the surfaces, Chuela makes use of paste fillings, incisions, scrapings, seams, and streaks of paint. The result is a practice of great plasticity characterized by an increasing fluency and spontaneity that do not pursue more equilibrium than that of the compositional harmony. It obtains a balance established between the matter and the chromaticism, between the earthen textures and the encounter of pigments in detonating occasions in sober occasions. Taking to an extreme the veneration of the substance of informalism, which is more particular of Tàpies, whose echoes resonate in the work of our author. He fuses metal onto the same canvas, in search of masses or emphases that augment a possible sculpted finality in the painting and smoothes the obstacles against the three-dimensional in a means devoted and restricted conventionally to the two dimensions. The representative space is structured with rigor in terms of the substance, color, outline, and composition. It communicates to the viewer experiences, vital experiences with enormous power, evocative and suggestive, whose code reside in the personal repertoire of signs of the artist, enriched by the millenarian mystical symbolism and virtual contemporary semiotic, but also in the iconographical signs divulged in the amazing ceilings of the colonial chapels in the Purhépecha mountain plateau: arabesque, scrolls, and seraphic wings. Chuela has recently applied this purifying development of synthetic and syncretism from the image to digital art. It self nourishes his language in the ambit of the visual arts through his contribution in other areas of artistic creations: functional art and architecture, as well promotion and diffusion of contemporary Michoacano art, and the firm commitment to rescue the artistic patrimony of his native origin. Notes for an artistic biography In 1988, Rubén Chuela received a degree in architecture from the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo with his thesis titled «Cultural Center in the Phurépecha Plateau». In the field of the visual arts, he has studied numerous specialties: lithography, ceramics and tinwork (hojalatería), graphic design and production, lighting, iconology and Christian iconography of temples, sacred art, critical and contemporary art. In reference to his work in the plastic arts, he has participated in over 12 individual expositions and more that 30 collective exhibitions from 1988 to 2001 in Mexico and the United States. His artworks have been housed by galleries and museums in Morelia and San Miguel of Allende, GTO, in Mexico, and in Los Angeles, CA, where he also coauthored a mural in Pasadena, CA . Among the recognitions with which he has been distinguished with, in 1989, he received first place and, in 1992, special prize, for «Ofrenda de Muertos», an event organized by the Instituto Michoacano de Cultura. In 1984 and 1986 , he was chosen in the first and second editions of the Biennial of Painting «Alfonso Michel», of Colima, COL, Mexico. Aside from being fully immersed in his profession as an architect, he has been director of Forvm Gallery for over a decade. He currently manages and directs a workshop of artistic and artisan production, designer and creator of pieces and ornaments of tin (hojalatería), which are forged and hammered and conjugating them with his architectural projects. Finally, it is fitting to emphasize his work as advisor and technical support of projects directed to the restoration of the artistic, cultural and historical patrimony of the Phurépecha plateau, through his participation in the Regional Counsel of Uruapan of «Adopte una Obra de Arte». Source: Castillo, Argelia. “El Sincretismo Plástico de Rubén Chuela,” La Voz de Michoacán: ACENTO, Supplement, June 12, 2002, pp. 7-9.

RUBÈN CHUELA REINTERPRETACION OF A TRADE “TINPLATE” Interviewed by Rosalía Santín

Rubén Chuela was born in Charapan, Michoacán. He studied architecture at the Nicolaíta University (UMSNH) in Morelia. His inquisitiveness led him to learn about the disciplines and trades, which he has integrated very well in his work: graphical design, art critic and video production. He also learned to work with ceramics and tin. It is because of his experience with this plastic art (tinplate) that he converses in this interview. How did your desire to introduce tinplate into your works come about? My motivation came about from my exposure around the handcrafted work of Michoacán. On the one hand, I wanted to work with a different technique from that of the traditional artisans of Santa Clara del Cobre and, on the other, reinterpret the wood and stone crafts, employing a lighter and easier material. Due to its economical aspect, tinplate evidently turns out to be very attractive. It does not require elaborate tools, although it does require physical effort and creativity. Where do the ideas for your images and designs that you create in the tinplate come from? I work the tinplate mainly from sacred architecture: churches of the 16th century, front walls and baroque façades, including neoclassic walls. Not only am I inspired by drawings, but also by moldings in high relief and by three-dimensional elements, as well as by bibliography and photographs of the site. Someone has described my work as it being sculptural. I create pieces like retablos, pieces for pictorial work, architectural elements as coverings of beams, columns, chapiters, lamps and other objects of practical use. The mixture of the stone with the metal turns out to be very rich as well as the mixture of the metal with wood or with concrete. Are the works created individually or by a group? When the work reaches a greater magnitude, I tend to do it in with a team. Often I seek help from other artisan workshops like carpenters, blacksmiths, electricians, and stonecutters. How is the tinplate wrought? First, a drawing is done on paper, and then it is traced over on the tinplate using yellow carbon paper. Using a reamer, apply pressure over the traced lines in order that the design remains striated. Placing the tin sheet on a soft surface, which can be a very thick rubber pad, a cowhide or other leather. One proceeds to hammer with repeated blows or using other tools to groove; both techniques can be combined to achieve sharper and lesser emphases that can be prominent reliefs for their diversity of its brilliancy. What is the lifespan of tinplate? Now it can have a larger prolonged life, as long as protectants are applied. Varnishes of high density exist that will preserve it in optimum conditions. I suppose that in the (sea) coast, more maintenance would be necessary. Climate conditions like in Mexico City or cities of the interior, a piece can last from 50 to 100 years, if it is well prepared. As for its maintenance, one might re-varnish it every five or ten years. Industrial varnishes are advisable. They come in clear, matte, or semi-matte, depending on the finish one desires. For pieces in copper, brass and silver exposed to the outdoors, it is advisable to use high adhesive varnishes. One can also apply patinas with acids, lighter shellacs like the ones applied to toys with an alcohol base. In short, whatever the artisans use will work well because they are resistant varnishes. What does the artisanship of tinplate represents for you? I believe that tinplate is a rich, attractive and well-established material in popular culture. People find in this material something that inherits memories. Through objects one regains memory. I believe that it is time to recapture these traditional skills and apply them to new designs. This is one of the means to take to renew this trade. Speak to us about your projects. I will continue working with tinplate, as well as other metals and include them in architecture as decorative, functional and expressive elements. I would like to transmit this skill to my natal town, Charapan, and possibly another community near to Morelia, Michoacán, my beloved home. Source: Santín, Rosalía. “Hojalata,” Artes de Mexico. No.44

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