Ascaso Gallery
Sculptors Material Conversations
April 10 – June 16, 2025
www.ascasogallery.com
Ascaso Gallery is pleased to present Sculptors: Material Conversations, a group exhibition curated by Javier Martín in collaboration with 404 Art Collection. This exhibition brings together works by Agustín Cárdenas, Ryan Schneider, Jesús Rafael Soto, Vincent Beaurin, Pablo Atchugarry, Mark Whalen, Francisco Narváez, and Carolyn Salas, creating a dialogue that bridges historical legacies with contemporary innovations in sculpture.
The exhibition Sculptors: Material Conversations brings together artists from different generations and stands as a reflection on sculpture’s long history of reinvention, tracing its transformation through time and its enduring role in shaping cultural narratives: sculpture remains a space that continues to shape, question, and redefine the world in three dimensions.
Presented at Ascaso Gallery, the historical artists included in this exhibition are in conversation with contemporary voices who continue to push the boundaries of the medium. Ryan Schneider focuses his practice on biomorphic sculpture work and is included in numerous private collections, such as the Almine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Collection. Mark Whalen, whose practice engages with spatial perception and abstraction, held a solo exhibition at The Center of Contemporary Art in Málaga. Carolyn Salas, with her exploration of the relationship between the body, architecture, and language, recently held a solo exhibition at The New Mexico State University Art Museum. Vincent Beaurin’s works are a sensitive and perceptible exploration of forms and their incorporation into the space; they are housed in major institutions such as the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art and The Pompidou Centre in Paris, France.
Throughout the exhibition, we explore how material, form, and meaning intersect across generations. Cárdenas’s surreal, organic forms find echoes in Schneider’s biomorphic sculptures, deeply connected to the human body and nature. Atchugarry’s soaring marble figures resonate with Beaurin’s luminous surfaces, where light materials and pigment create a meditative experience. Soto’s kinetic innovations set the stage for Whalen’s dynamic, interactive works, while Narváez’s balance of figuration and abstraction roots the exhibition in Latin American heritage, and Salas’s aluminum compositions challenge the perception of weight and fragility, reimagining sculptural space.
With over 35 years of experience in modern and contemporary art, Ascaso Gallery has firmly established itself as a vital platform for the representation and promotion of both Latin American and international masters.
The exhibition would spread into both rooms of the gallery, with one of the rooms including the monumental installation Extension and Half Sphere (1991) by Jesús Rafael Soto, presented at the Miami location for the first time.
Sculptors: Material Conversations celebrates the ongoing transformation of sculpture, demonstrating its power to question, transform, and reshape our understanding of the physical world.
Light House
Harpers and Cultured Mag present exhibition ‘Light House’ at Red Car
February 20 – May 20, 2025
www.harpersgallery.com
Untitled Art, Miami Beach
Galerie Saenger
December 04 – 08, 2024
www.saengergaleria.com
Richard Heller Gallery
Group Show “Supererogatory Structures”
October 19 – December 14, 2024
www.richardhellergallery.com
Slow Burn
STATION | SYDNEY
September 21 – October 26, 2024
www.stationgallery.com
STATION is delighted to present this solo exhibition of new work by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Whalen.
Mark Whalen’s latest exhibition, Slow Burn, continues to delve into the realm of figurative sculptures highlighting the overlooked moments that shape our everyday existence. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Giorgio Morandi and Alberto Giacometti, known for their insights into the ordinary, Whalen’s practice captures this essence.
His sculptures feature quirky objects like steak, books and candles re-imagined into meaningful compositions. The gradual melting of a candle or the precarious balance of an egg serve as more than elements, they symbolise patience, equilibrium and the vulnerability of inherent timing in human life.
These motifs are intricately integrated into each artwork to underscore life’s fragility and the relentless march of time. Through his choice of materials, such as onyx stone, glass, bronze and aluminium, Whalen juxtaposes textures to depict the interplay between permanence and transience. The delicate nature of onyx contrasts with the durability of bronze, a reflection of the dance, between fleeting moments and timeless existence.
With this series, Whalen prompts viewers to reflect on life’s evolution each moment deliberate and unhurried. Whalen’s perspective highlights how the true essence of life’s moments often becomes apparent, gradually unfolding their importance as time passes.
– Lisa Boudet,
New York-based curator and writer
STATION is delighted to participate in Frieze Seoul. Our presentation brings together three well-known contemporary Australian artists: Polly Borland, Tom Polo, and Mark Whalen. These artists individually question and transcend the portraiture genre through ambiguous and abstracted portrayals of the self, explored in the disciplines of photography, painting, and sculpture.
‘Time on my hands’ an exhibition by Mark Whalen at Casa Gilardi presented by SAENGER Galería.
Mark Whalen’s latest show “Time on my hands”, is his first solo exhibition in Mexico City. Mark’s versatile and interdisciplinary practice is characterized by his distinctive maquettes rendered in bold, expansive fields of color. Casa Gilardi’s playfulness: its deep reds the color of Mexican sweets, the swimming pool’s magenta wall added for pleasure, and brightly painted walls smoothed down to give the illusion of light, is reflected in Whalen’s florescent hues, comical facial characteristics, and body language. Whalen’s sculptures explore the everyday. Exaggerated facial expressions create an overarching narrative: each body part belongs to a single fictional protagonist, cumulating to represent the vast spectrum of human emotion. Much like Barragan has centered the domestic Casa Gilardi around the jacaranda tree, Whalen has paired these human-like figurations with everyday household items, thus encouraging us to explore uncanny relationships between object and person. As Barragán’s purple wall in the courtyard mimics the shade of the jacaranda flowers, and the blue walls in the front courtyard reflect the sky above, Whalen in turn beautifully mirrors the house’s unique elements of light, colour and texture.
– Charlotte Mattocks – Station Gallery
CASA GILARDI
Casa Gilardi located in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City is the last project built and designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragán in 1976, when he was 80 years old. It is considered a classic example of the influential architect’s work in combining the Mexican vernacular with the vivid use of European modernism, thus forming part of his architectural testament.
The house was commissioned by Pancho Gilardi and Martín Luque partners in an advertising agency, after Barragán had formally retired. Barragán accepted the commission attracted by two conditions of the project: the enormous Jacarandá tree that should be kept on the site, and the swimming pool requested by the owners as part of the program.
Its main characteristic lies not only in its architecture but in the multitude of sensations that its spaces offer, through the games of lights, colors, distribution, and architectural elements, such as the staircase without railing that seems to levitate under overhead light. A yellow light that passes through small vertical openings, floods the corridor that reaches a minimalist space with a reflecting pool next to the dining room, where a red painted wall supports the skylight.
Mark Whalen
B. 1982, Sydney, Australia
Lives and Works in Los Angeles, California, USA.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Lighthouse , Harpers gallery, Los Angeles
2024 Slow Burn , Station Gallery Australia
2024 Public work Madrid, Galerie Canalejas . Curated by UVNT art
2023 ‘Time on my hands ‘Casa Gilardi , Mexico City
2022 Close My Eyes , Oti Gallery Bangkok
2021 ‘I Was Just Here’ , CAC MALAGA, Contemporary Art Centre of Malaga
2019 ‘Like Minded’ , Sophie Gannon gallery
2019 Ramble ramble , Oti Gallery
2018 Squeeze, Edwina Corlette Gallery
2017 Pressure, Black Art projects, Melbourne Australia
2016 Around The Bend, Chalk Horse Gallery Sydney
2016 ‘Bindings’ , Ruttkowski 68. Cologne
2015 Trapezoid, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Los Angeles
2013 I’ll meet you in the middle, Black art projects
2011 One Moment Please, Gallery A.S, Sydney
2010 Observatory, Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane
SELECTED ART FAIRS
2024 Untitled Art fair , Miami . Galerie Saenger, Mexico City
2024 Contemporary Istanbul , Sevil Dolmaci gallery
2024 Dallas Art Fair , Galerie Saenger, Mexico City
2024 Art Busan , Tang Contemporary
2024 Zona Maco , Galerie Saenger , Mexico City
2023 Frieze Seoul , Station Gallery Australia
2023 Art SG, Oti Gallery
2022 Westbund art fair – Yavuz Gallery Australia
2022 Art Basel – Yavuz Gallery Australia
2020 Taipei Dangdai , Oti Gallery
2019 Untitled Art fair , Miami. Oti Gallery
2016 Art Central Hong Kong, Chalk Horse Gallery . Mark Whalen, Jasper Night, Dean Brown
2014 Peculiarities, Melbourne Art Fair – Black Art projects
SELECTED GROUP SHOW
2024 Crescent Heights , Harpers gallery, Los Angeles
2024 Needles and Pins, The Mass , Tokyo. Curated by Hiro Kurata
2024 Intersections , Aisho nanzuka
2018 The Rigg Prize, National Gallery of Victoria, Sophie Gannon Gallery & Flack Studio
2017 MCA Art Bar, curated by Reko Rennie, Museum of contemporary Art
2016 Immersion, Richard Heller Gallery
2010 Disorder, Disorder, Penrith Regional Gallery, Australia
2010-11 Space Invaders, National Gallery of Australia, touring exhibition.
2009 Apocalypse Wow, Museum of Contemporary Art Macro, Rome
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Artbank
National Gallery of Australia Mainland Art Fund
STATION is delighted to participate in Frieze Seoul. Our presentation brings together three well-known contemporary Australian artists: Polly Borland, Tom Polo, and Mark Whalen. These artists individually question and transcend the portraiture genre through ambiguous and abstracted portrayals of the self, explored in the disciplines of photography, painting, and sculpture.
‘Time on my hands’ an exhibition by Mark Whalen at Casa Gilardi presented by SAENGER Galería.
Mark Whalen’s latest show “Time on my hands”, is his first solo exhibition in Mexico City. Mark’s versatile and interdisciplinary practice is characterized by his distinctive maquettes rendered in bold, expansive fields of color. Casa Gilardi’s playfulness: its deep reds the color of Mexican sweets, the swimming pool’s magenta wall added for pleasure, and brightly painted walls smoothed down to give the illusion of light, is reflected in Whalen’s florescent hues, comical facial characteristics, and body language. Whalen’s sculptures explore the everyday. Exaggerated facial expressions create an overarching narrative: each body part belongs to a single fictional protagonist, cumulating to represent the vast spectrum of human emotion. Much like Barragan has centered the domestic Casa Gilardi around the jacaranda tree, Whalen has paired these human-like figurations with everyday household items, thus encouraging us to explore uncanny relationships between object and person. As Barragán’s purple wall in the courtyard mimics the shade of the jacaranda flowers, and the blue walls in the front courtyard reflect the sky above, Whalen in turn beautifully mirrors the house’s unique elements of light, colour and texture.
– Charlotte Mattocks – Station Gallery
CASA GILARDI
Casa Gilardi located in the San Miguel Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City is the last project built and designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragán in 1976, when he was 80 years old. It is considered a classic example of the influential architect’s work in combining the Mexican vernacular with the vivid use of European modernism, thus forming part of his architectural testament.
The house was commissioned by Pancho Gilardi and Martín Luque partners in an advertising agency, after Barragán had formally retired. Barragán accepted the commission attracted by two conditions of the project: the enormous Jacarandá tree that should be kept on the site, and the swimming pool requested by the owners as part of the program.
Its main characteristic lies not only in its architecture but in the multitude of sensations that its spaces offer, through the games of lights, colors, distribution, and architectural elements, such as the staircase without railing that seems to levitate under overhead light. A yellow light that passes through small vertical openings, floods the corridor that reaches a minimalist space with a reflecting pool next to the dining room, where a red painted wall supports the skylight.