Atramentum Abstractus, works on paper

By Alfredo Castrejón

The abstract works on paper by Joel Audefroy are still little known in Mexico. In 1996, he went to the Popular Graphic Workshop (TGP) in Mexico City with the artists Sergio Santamaría Sánchez, Alfredo Mereles and Luis Garzón. He learned lithography, etching and engraving on wood. His work as an engraver had a major shift to non-figuration from 2008-2009. In 2008, he traveled to Tokyo and discovered a little-known means of expression, Sumi-e, used by early Buddhist artists of China and Japan. From this trip he was spiritually prepared for the management of Sumi-e by a series of preparatory meditations in each work. The ink on paper work has led Chinese and Japanese artists to the ends of abstract art. From the workshop TGP and the masters of Sumi-e Japanese, Audefroy produced a series of works on paper that combine woodcut and China ink. In this work he abandoned subject matter and the representation of objects and people. This series of woodcut prints with black and colored inks, leaves space and place for the work itself, without reference to any figurative source. The depth of black and shades of gray are sufficient for expressing abstract spaces. The result is a deeply human work, despite the absence of a subject.

Art
“Atramentum Abstractus,” works on paper
By Joel Audefroy
Temporary exhibition
From Sat, Jul 26
The Zaguán Gallery
Zacateros 12