When Marcel Duchamps hung a urinal on a gallery wail and entitled it "Fountains, it was a brilliant statement about the nature of the relationship between art and the context in which it is viewed. Now, nearly a hundred years later, when someone places a commode in a gallery and calls it "art", i is, sadly, just a commode in a gallery. Similarly, when abstract expressionists first appeared in the art world, they made bold statements that railed against an ossified artistic establishment.
Now, sadly, most nonrepresentational art is viewed by people thinking, "Well, this would just about fill the wall space behind the sofa, and the colors are just right to go with my throw pillows." However, all thoughts of such decorative speculation will be abandoned when viewing the work of Jorge Albertella. Mr. Albertella has been a novelist, a playwright, and even a restaurateur, among many other incredible accomplishments. Whatever he sets his hand to, he does it with great passion, and always evokes extreme reactions.
The Argentine born artist is at his finest when working with mixed media. He, himself, was heard to say how much he loved working with metal when creating his canvases. That love of metal manifests itself in the additional gravitas certain works carry when viewed in person. His work, "Shiny Star" is composed of a nova of screws and bolts exploding outward on a field of dark red, and it creates the impression the viewer might need to step back to avoid being swallowed by maelstrom of passionate creation. "Wounded Bird" was another exceptional piece on exhibit at the James Gray Gallery in Bergamot Station of Santa Monica. Vertical bars not quite imprisoning bits of splintered wood to either side speak eloquently of crippled freedoms.
Not all the works on display were mixed media, and some of the acrylics on canvas still had the power to evoke strong feelings. "Clouds" plays with obscured light in a fascinating, melting manner. The most powerful work in the show, however, was mixed media, a piece entitled "Love Letters," which gives vent for any viewer infatuated with the science of the daily symbology of our lives, the little splotches on the keyboards so many fail to notice even as we devote most our day to their use, to fall in love with the very symbols themselves, regardless of their order or meaning. Again, passion bursts from the walls in all of Mr. Albertella's work. One may not like it, or one may love it, but no one will be thinking, "Gee, that'll be just right for the blank spot on the wall behind the desk, and the colors go so well with the faux Navajo rug."