Seeing Thoughts Through
June 3 – July 7, 2022
ENGAGE Projects is pleased to present Seeing Thoughts Through, a solo exhibition featuring work by Alberto Aguilar.
ENGAGE Projects is pleased to present Seeing Thoughts Through, a solo exhibition by Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist Alberto Aguilar. Harnessing the use of formal elements such as shape, line, and color, Aguilar will transform the gallery into familiar chaos using everyday materials from settings such as storefronts and grocery stores, similar to the one his parents owned when he was a child.
Used almost exclusively for commercial purposes, Aguilar reclaims the use of hand-painted sale signs as a form of dissent from systems of power. Often using text as a way to breach accessibility in his work, the artist plays with the subtlety of the double entendre and the pun, offering deeper implications to his seemingly factual storefront advertisements. Not only does Aguilar use text for its denotative content, he equally privileges the form in which it is presented as a way to embody meaning that language can only describe. Aguilar asserts that the use of text is important for immediate connection with the viewer so as not to obscure his calls to awareness.
Pulling from his background in painting to design the compositions of the signs, Aguilar works within the established visual language determined by the company he collaborates with for production. This fixed set of rules allows him to push against the precedent for communication, creating his own mode of minor gesture within the confines of this commercial symbolism. He claims, “Moments of disruption are the moments of learning.” Aguilar creates intentional disorientation as a means to activate awareness in his audience. Insisting on the integration of art and life, Aguilar’s work can most accurately be described as a social practice. Oftentimes, the artist makes work from domestic items in others’ homes, or collects ingredients from the community to make a shared mole sauce. This form of making involves charged objects that hold meaning through the personal connotations they carry.
Chicago Tribune: Top 10 art shows for summer 2022
Used almost exclusively for commercial purposes, Aguilar reclaims the use of hand-painted sale signs as a form of dissent from systems of power. Often using text as a way to breach accessibility in his work, the artist plays with the subtlety of the double entendre and the pun, offering deeper implications to his seemingly factual storefront advertisements. Not only does Aguilar use text for its denotative content, he equally privileges the form in which it is presented as a way to embody meaning that language can only describe. Aguilar asserts that the use of text is important for immediate connection with the viewer so as not to obscure his calls to awareness.
Pulling from his background in painting to design the compositions of the signs, Aguilar works within the established visual language determined by the company he collaborates with for production. This fixed set of rules allows him to push against the precedent for communication, creating his own mode of minor gesture within the confines of this commercial symbolism. He claims, “Moments of disruption are the moments of learning.” Aguilar creates intentional disorientation as a means to activate awareness in his audience. Insisting on the integration of art and life, Aguilar’s work can most accurately be described as a social practice. Oftentimes, the artist makes work from domestic items in others’ homes, or collects ingredients from the community to make a shared mole sauce. This form of making involves charged objects that hold meaning through the personal connotations they carry.
Chicago Tribune: Top 10 art shows for summer 2022
Call to Awareness, 2016
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Traducción (Translation), 2020
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Tradición (Tradition), 2020
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Proofread, 2018
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
A Bridge, 2015
enamel on paper
31 x 48 in 78.7 x 121.9 cm
enamel on paper
31 x 48 in 78.7 x 121.9 cm
Select Products (Market Value), 2022
non-perishable goods arranged by value
non-perishable goods arranged by value
50 Ingredient Mole (Market Select Edition), 2022
gel pen on grid paper
gel pen on grid paper
Altered State 1, 2022
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Altered State 2, 2022
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Multiple Entries (Triptych), 2016
enamel on paper
36 x 36 in 91.4 x 91.4 cm
enamel on paper
36 x 36 in 91.4 x 91.4 cm
Passing Thought, 2015
enamel on paper
48 x 80 in 121.9 x 203.2 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 80 in 121.9 x 203.2 cm
Monumental Act 3, 2020
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
Monumental Act 7, 2020
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
enamel on paper
48 x 48 in 121.9 x 121.9 cm
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Break Up (Chicago/Havana) 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 2018
enamel on paper
48 x 28 in 121.9 x 71.1 cm each
enamel on paper
48 x 28 in 121.9 x 71.1 cm each
