Rodríguez Calero, “The Apparition”, 1999, 36 x 24.
“Creation never gets easier, it is a constant struggle,” artist Rodriguez Calero observes. It is an intense undertaking, this desire to transform what exists in the mind’s eye into physical form. Working in collage, Calero creates a world all its own, a world that is at once anointed with spirits and ethereal energies that radiate from her work. Each image becomes an icon, inspiring devotion and creating a state of bliss that is wondrously soothing in its intensity. When taken individually, each is a work holds the power to draw you into its spell; when taken together, the cumulative effect is transformative.
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“Urban Martyrs and Latter-Day Santos,” the first museum survey of Calero’s work, opens at El Museo del Barrio, New York, and runs through October 17, 2015. Calero’s original technique is called “acrollage,” a technique of layering glazes of luminous colors with rice and other kinds of paper. The blending of fermenting surfaces and stenciled patterns attains lustrous color and texture. Guest-curated by Alejandro Anreus, the installation includes 29 large acrollage canvases, 19 smaller collages, 13 fotacrolés (altered photography) on canvas board, and 3 works of mixed media on paper.
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Rodríguez Calero, “Urban Hood II”, 2014, 48 x 72.