Contributed by Riad Miah / Rafael Vega’s work contemplates the act of making art in its entirety. Each of his two-dimensional relief pieces, now on display in his solo show “To See Is To Conjure” at Helm Contemporary, emerges from a series of deliberate actions – cutting, folding, and stitching – that break down and rebuild the existing composition. Leaving unprimed and untouched canvas as a frame of reference, he lets viewers in on his creative ritual. They see, as it were, how the sausage is made.
Vega’s work also calls to mind the post-war Italian avant-garde, especially the radical abstract works of Lucio Fontana and the Spazialismo (Spatialism) movement. Fontana, in his famous series Concetto Spaziale (Spatial Concept), used slashes to disrupt the surface of his canvases, asking viewers to consider what lay beyond the painted image. In a comparable way, Vega encourages curiosity about the material and the space it inhabits, and about the interplay between structure and void.
What may be most striking about Vega’s paintings is the way they undergo near destruction – the surface is sliced, torn, and fragmented – before conclusive integration, driving home the idea of affirmative creation as merely one element of the overall process of making art. “To See Is To Conjure” stands as a serious meditation on the cyclical character of that process. And it richly reflects the intellectual and psychological endeavor of confronting memory and history that goes into making art, as well as the intimate connections among art, inner life, and the ambient world.
“Rafael Vega: To See Is To Conjure,” Helm Contemporary, 132 Bowery, 3rd Floor, New York, NY. Through November 2, 2024.
About the Author: Artist and educator Riad Miah was born in Trinidad and Tobago and lives and works in New York City. He has exhibited with Lesley Heller Workspace, Rooster Gallery, and Sperone Westwater Gallery. His 2023 solo show was at Equity Gallery in New York.
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