DES MOINES, IA.- On September 23, the
Des Moines Art Center opened Dario Robleto: Survival Does Not Lie In The Heavens, an exhibition that will run through January 15, 2012 in the Anna K. Meredith Gallery. A new print exhibition, Black White Gray Blue also opened on September 23, and be on view through January 29, 2012.
Survival Does Not Lie in The Heavens is devoted to Dario Robleto’s recent exploration of longevity and extinction. The San Antonio-native is well known for using ephemeral and archaic materials, including vinyl records, dinosaur fossils, impact glass formed by meteorites, human tears, and heartbeats to create poetic statements that celebrate our faith in the materials and objects that shape our lives. Influenced by both conceptual art and popular forms of music sampling, Robleto mixes these materials in order to understand the present through the past in an ongoing pursuit of a collective desire for chance, hope, and immortality. Faith is an important underlying theme in Robleto’s work, and is exemplified in the diversity of materials and ideas that he uses to create his artwork.
Survival Does Not Lie in The Heavens features 13 large-scale two- and three-dimensional works addressing various natural phenomena including the extinction of animal species, glacial ice melts, and human supercentenarians. Robleto’s exhibition will also feature a new site-specific piece entitled, Candles Un-burn, Suns Un-shine, Death Un-dies (2011). This piece unites Robleto’s interest in legendary musical performers such as Patsy Cline and Buddy Holly, who died prematurely, and his ongoing exploration of immortality.
The exhibition is organized by Senior Curator Gilbert Vicario, and will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalog edited by Vicario, featuring essays by Vicario along with Michelle White, associate curator, The Menil Collection, Houston; and Naomi Oreskes, science historian and author of “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming” (2010).
