Pablo Siquier

Part of a generation of artists who emerged in Buenos Aires at the end of the Argentine military dictatorship, Pablo Siquier’s work resists historical context and interpretation. His abstract black and white canvases and drawings remain silent, even as they evoke the rhythms of the city and subtly reference architectural ornament. In his work, Siquier explores the tensions between perfect and imperfect media: after years of precise schematic drawings with rulers and compasses, he uses computer software to design his intricate compositions. Once they are designed, he creates them on paper or canvases with charcoal or paint; they are at once hand-made and machine-influenced.

In the early 1980s, Siquier studied for three years at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón. His work from 1985-1989 used vibrant colors to develop dynamic relationships between an object in the foreground and the background plane or horizon line. During the late 1980s, he co-founded the informal artist collective Grupo de la X, which was connected to Madí artist Enio Iommi and his students. From 1989-1993, he began to restrict his palette, and he developed geometricized shapes inspired by architectural motifs and ornaments. In 1993, he abandoned color and began a series of abstract paintings and drawings in black and white. Since 2005, Siquier has been working on the walls of galleries and museums, making large-scale wall drawings and installations. He has created murals at the Los Molinos Building at Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires and at the Carlos Pellegrini subway station in Buenos Aires.

Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA

The SPACE Collection, Irvine, CA

Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario (MACRO), Argentina