Joaquín Restrepo: An artist who is looking for hell in Switzerland
The visual artist and sculptor Joaquín Restrepo is exhibiting VITRIOL in Texas, an artistic selection consisting of 27 sculptures, drawings, large-format canvases and a virtual projection that offers the viewer a retrospective, which can currently be seen in the gallery in Vaudeville, in Fredericksburg until the end of December 2021.
The artist with Jewish-Hispanic roots regularly travels to Texas and Florida to showcase his work. The bronze and iron sculptures, the large-format canvases and ink drawings that mix different artistic techniques capture the essence of his travels that he usually goes on.
At the same time, the visual artist is showing his works selected by PROGR in Switzerland to be part of the Residenz.ch artistic residency supported by the Swiss entrepreneur Hansjörg Wyss through the Art Museum in Bern, Switzerland. Throughout December, Restrepo will create a metaverse inspired by Dante’s Inferno and Carl Jung’s black books, from which new physical works and a number of NFTs will also be generated.
“This appropriation of Dante’s Inferno is a continuation of the work I did last year that I’m now doing in Texas. For if you do not go in search of destiny and accept it, destiny will find you; That shock leads to some sort of descent into hell, and I think the best way to deal with it is to incorporate into our lives the parts of our personalities that we are repressing. It’s not an easy path, but I think it’s a way of finding meaning in life, even more so in this age of hyperconnectivity where the last thing we do is learn to live with ourselves, ”Restrepo confirms .
Restrepo has created a strong connection between art and technology that allows him to switch between drawing, painting, sculpture and immersive digital experiences like his Amor Fati app in 2020 and by presenting his work as NFTs (Non-Fundible Tokens).