ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003		ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003

We are very pleased that this presentation of Alpuy’s woods has been curated by José Roca, the talented curator at the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango of the Banco de la República in Bogotá. In 2002, Roca was invited to New York as a Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow. He then taught at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania. It was an appealing pairing: Alpuy at 84, although as young as ever, is two generations ahead of Roca and has very definite ideas about art, while Roca, who is in touch with young artists here and abroad and with the latest developments in art, immediately recognized what is timeless and unique in Alpuy’s work. Furthermore, an important phase in Alpuy’s artistic development took place during the three years he lived in Bogotá.

ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003		ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003

Alpuy has always been fiercely independent, belonging to a category that could be defined as a worker in the arts, because for him, giving concrete form to an intuition is not a fluke of inspiration but the result of constant and daily work. This means spiritual, psychological and physical effort in equal parts and none less important than the other. Alpuy’s reliefs and drawings are totally unlike any other contemporary artist’s work, which is why many artists took notice of it. His iconography, for example, predates Jean Michel Basquiat’s, and Ana Mendieta, later revisited Alpuy’s pursuit of the origins and the telluric. Today, looking at these archetypal carvings and assemblages, some made forty years ago, it is difficult to date them, as they appear timeless. After spending time with Alpuy and his work, José Roca selected Alpuy’s latest pieces for this exhibition, along with his seminal wall reliefs and ink drawings from the 1960s, all of them created in New York.

ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003		ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003

Having known Alpuy for 40 years, I find it interesting to view his work through the new and illuminating perspective that José Roca brought to this exhibition. It has been a great pleasure to work with both of them.

Cecilia de Torres

A new Julio Alpuy catalogue: ALPUY 1960s – 2003, Works of Wood and Drawings, has been published for the occasion. Containing the essay:Julio Alpuy: The Maker, by José Roca; and an illustrted chronology by Cecilia de Torres; 138 pages, 31 full color plates, 41 illustrations and photographs, with Spanish translation of texts. $ 10.00 [+ shipping & NYS tax]

Untitled, 1963 Ink & watercolor on paper 17 1/4 x 23 in. 44 x 58,4 cm.		The Earth, 1963 oil on incised wood 39 x 62 in. 99 x 158 cm.		El Mar, 1964 oil on incised wood 24 x 23 1/2 in. 61 x 60 cm.

Untitled, 1963 Ink & tempera on paper 22 3/4 x 16 in. 58 x 41 cm.		Fertilidad, 1964 oil on incised wood 53 1/2 x 35 3/4 in. 136 x 90,6 cm.		Pastoral, 1964 oil on incised wood 18 x 37 1/4 in. 46 x 94 cm.

Primordial Landscape, 1965 Watercolor & ink on paper 13 1/4 x 10? in. 35 x 27 cm.		Symbolos, 1965 Watercolor & ink on paper 13 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. 35 x 27 cm.		Composición, 1964 oil on incised wood 27 1/2 x 26 in. 70 x 66 cm.

The Beginning, 1964 oil on incised wood 40 1/2 x 49 1/2 in. 103 x 126 cm.		Untitled, 1965 oil on incised wood 15 1/4 x 10 3/8 in. 38,6 x 26,4 cm.		Paisaje Marino, 1964 oil on incised wood 14 3/4 x 23 in. 38 x 58,5 cm.

Paisaje Primordial, 1964 Oil on incised wood 23 1/4 x 23 in. 59 x 58 cm.		Genesis, 1964 oil on incised wood 63 x 75 1/2 in. 160 x 191.7 cm.		Creación I, 1964 oil on incised wood 18 1/2 x 27 1/4 in. 47 x 69,3 cm.

Pájaro, 2002 Carved and incised wood 27 x 6 3/4 x 16 in. 68,6 x 17 x 40,6 cm.		Cycle of Life, 2003 Carved and incised wood 39 7/8 x 40 1/4 in. 101,3 x 104,4 cm.		Archetype, 1989 Carved and incised wood 16 x 36 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. 41 x 93 x 9,5 cm.

Pez, 2003 Carved and incised wood 18 x 19 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. 46 x 49,5 x 9,5 cm.		ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003		ALPUY 1960s - 2003 Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. Autumn 2003