Sponsored by Chris Turri & Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art
Chris Turri, who lives in Corrales, NM, has worked with reclaimed metal to create distinctive sculptures for many years. But this year, he has been inspired to add an entirely new medium to his repertoire, and he’s introducing the new pieces for the first time at Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. The show opens on Saturday, October 19, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m.
Turri’s intriguing new series, titled From the Shadows, features mixed-media works created with patina on cloth. “I’m excited to share this new work that I’ve been developing over the last four years,” Turri says. “The idea came to me organically as I was experimenting with textures and patinas on my sculptures. From that point on, the work became intentional. As I continue to create sculptures, the patina on cloth is curing, layer by layer. So, the new pieces really are the shadows of my original work.”
In Turri’s metal work, he repurposes a variety of unusual metals, including the “skins” of old vehicles from the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. “I love the rich colors and character of the pieces I find buried in the salvage yards,” Turri says. In a similar way, his new pieces utilize reclaimed cloth that comes “from the shadows” of the lives of others. The cloth is then wrapped on large canvases or other reclaimed structures.
The imagery in this new two-dimensional series echoes the themes in Turri’s three-dimensional work, including figures that represent a variety of indigenous peoples, as well as abstracted petroglyph and animal symbols. From the Shadows is on view at the gallery through October 27.