RAYMOND SAÁ
MONSTERA DELICIOSA
NOVEMBER 6, 2020 - JANUARY 23, 2021
MEET THE ARTIST
Friday, November 6 | Time slots: 6 pm & 7 pm
Pentimenti Gallery welcomes our first exhibition of the work of Raymond Saá, Monstera Deliciosa. This will be the artist’s Philadelphia debut.
In Monstera Deliciosa, Raymond Saá presents works on paper and canvas. Saá’s process-oriented work deconstructs and reconstructs natural elements, generating motifs that reference the artist’s Cuban roots, and connect natural forms with an architectural process.
Saá uses an X-Acto knife as a drawing implement, to create images which are then sewn together into ‘postcards’. Both the positive and negative images are important to the creation of the piece. The sewn composites are overlapped and sewn to each other in a pattern reminiscent of shingles, thus building a form that echos that of both architecture, and the fruit of the monstera deliciosa plant.
The paintings comprising Monstera Deliciosa are extensions of the drawing and pattern-making process of the works on paper. The compositions are derived from details found in the paper works and are built or stacked from the bottom upward. Color, line, pattern, and shape remain the focus of the work, as different elements stack against each other creating rhythm and tension within the composition. Due to the ‘uncorrectable’ nature of the building process, Saá’s paintings are leant their own memory, and unexpected consequences emerge.
Much like the fruit of monstera deliciosa, Saá’s images present a complex, multilayered formal environment for the viewer to decipher. Elements both contrast and harmonize, drawing on ideas and imagery, and then creating something entirely new.
Raymond Saá received his BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, and his MFA from Parsons School of Design. He had solo exhibitions at Court Gallery, William Patterson University, Wayne, NJ; Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ; Korn Gallery, Drew University, Madison, NJ; Queens Museum, Bulova Center, Queens, NY; White Columns, White Room, New York, NY. He had group exhibitions at Chautauqua Visual Arts Gallery, Chautauqua, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Contemporary Arts Forum@Indigo, Limuw: An Ode to the Sea, Santa Barbara, CA; Islip Museum, Islip, NY. His work is in the public collections of Pérez Art Museum, FL; New Orleans Museum of Art, LA; Queens Museum of Art, NY; US Department of State, Art in Embassies, Matamoros, American Embassy, Mexico; NYC Public Art in Public Schools, NY; US Department of State, Art in Embassies, Tiawana American Consulate, Mexico; Lexus Corporation, CA; Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, MA; Delta Airlines, NJ & LA, as well as numerous private collections.
To ease concerns about COVID-19, we will be following strict social distancing protocols. RSVPs are required to attend the meet the artist event.
For all inquiries and to RSVP, please contact us at mail@pentimenti.com or +1 215.625.9990.