The success of NFTs have proven the accelerating digitalization of arts. A new growing trend is “Phygital art”, creating links between physical and digital artworks.
Sergio Gomez, known for his large-scale figurative abstraction artworks, is among these avant garde artists who blur the boundaries between mediums. He has embraced AR and his poetic NFTs are very popular among collectors.
From May 16 to June 24 2022, 33 Contemporary Gallery, located in the Zhou B Art Center, Chicago will present “Transfiguration”, a solo exhibition of Gomez’s most recent body of works. An opening reception will be held on Friday May, 20 (7 to 10 pm CST).
An interactive exhibition combining paintings, AR and NFTs
This in-person and virtual exhibition will present new paintings with augmented reality experiences, powered by Artivive, and a new collection of NFTs (information available on https://www.sergiogomezonline.com/nft)
“Beyond the medium and the how, what matters is the experience for viewers and the message carried by the work” says the artist who also wears the hats of gallerist, curator and educator.
Gomez adds “the Transfiguration Series is a departure from my previous works in which the ascending figure has been central. In this series, the figure is revealed and experienced using augmented reality, through a mobile device using the Artivive app. I conceived these works as a post-moment, where the figure has completely exited the picture plane and left behind a trail of light”.
By using the latest available technology of AR and NFT, the paintings become a bridge between the physical and the digital world.The artist creates ethereal AR animations in which the artworks take a new dimension. The paintings, originally created in acrylics, become alive. The NFTs minted by Sergio Gomez capture these animations and enable collectors to own them.
An artist inspired by the cycle of life
The catalog of the exhibition has been written by the Italian art historian Guido Folco. He analyzes “The cycles of existence have always been at the center of Gomez’s poetics. His new expressive season remains consistent with the experiments that have characterized his career in recent years. In “Transfiguration”, the artist investigates the beyond and that mystical inspiration of another dimension. From figuration we move on to abstraction, to the overcoming of form which becomes pure allusion and illusion.
The art historian links Gomez’s work to the work of masters of the great classical and Renaissance masters. “In the vein of Giotto to Raphael, just to name a few, Sergio Gomez combines light, the dazzling white of the garments, in contrast with the surrounding descriptive elements anchored to an earthly substance. In the shiny, brilliant backgrounds, the artist symbolizes the spiritual sphere from which the vital energy of a tangible presence radiates, rendered with overlapping layers of opaque paint. Spirit and matter merge to become flesh and soul.”
A modern interpretation of an eternal quest
The desire to make sense of life and to understand what could exist beyond physical life, is a common point of all humans across time and cultures.
The strength of “Transfiguration” is to combine paintings, AR and NFTs in order to interpret this eternal quest with the latest tools available for artists.
n Guido Folco words “The reflection is therefore ancient and contemporary at the same time, suggestive and stimulating as only great art can arouse in each of us.”
About Sergio Gomez:
Sergio Gomez is a Chicago-based visual artist. He received a MFA degree from Northern Illinois University. He is known for his large-scale figurative abstraction paintings and charcoal drawings exploring the cycles of life.
Sergio’s work has been the subject of more than 45 solo exhibitions in the United States, Romania, Italy, Mexico, and Vienna. He has participated in over 150 group exhibitions in Spain, Sweden, Mexico, Austria, Italy, South Korea, England, Kairo, Belgium, and the United States. His work is in the collection of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Brauer Museum, and other public and private collections.
Besides his studio work, Sergio Gomez is an active curator with a career of over 100 curated exhibitions since 2010. He is curator and Director of Exhibitions at the Zhou B. Art Center, Director, and founder of 33 Contemporary Gallery, co-founder of the coaching academy Art NXT Level®, and founder of Amplified Art Network.
