GALLARDO/BUDOFF: GROWTH, BREADTH AND TERRAIN, Two-person exhibition curated by Gisela Carbonell

Rollins Museum of Art, Winter Park, FL, September 17 - December 31, 2021

All images courtesy of the Rollins Museum of Art.

Museum wall text by curator Gisela Carbonell:

This exhibition features works in various media by artists Frances Gallardo (b. 1984, San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Nathan Budoff (b. 1962, Brookline, Massachusetts). Placed in dialogue with each other, the works explore natural phenomena in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Gallardo’s lace-like cutouts relate visually to Budoff’s meticulously rendered animals, trees and foliage, creating a dynamic and colorful relationship that, upon closer inspection, reveals a nuanced approach to the cultural, historical, and scientific dimensions of the natural environment. 

Gallardo was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her artistic practice incorporates scientific data: from hurricane paths and satellite imagery to mosquitoes’ flight patterns, and the effects of Sahara Desert dust in the Caribbean. Research, along with her experience of the island’s landscape, and the study of its history and culture, are key components of this body of work. Partly inspired by the Puerto Rican tradition of bobbin lace weaving, the pieces on view here evoke that which cannot be seen, but whose effects are felt on an economic, cultural, and environmental level. 

Budoff’s work is grounded in the tradition of narrative figuration and detailed draftsmanship. Informed by his experience as a resident of Puerto Rico for more than two decades, his recent works address the island’s urban landscape, social dislocation, and environmental deterioration. In his paintings, Budoff strategically inserts creatures in contexts charged with cultural meaning, pushing the boundaries of the traditional understanding of our surroundings. His canvases visually articulate the intersection between the real and imagined; their vibrancy and playfulness transform the familiar into the unknown.

Including a series of recently created works, this exhibition invites us to recalibrate our relationship with nature and consider alternate approaches to the spaces we inhabit. Both artists highlight the beauty in that which is overwhelming and emphasize the sublime in the mundane.