Fabulas

Ariel Vargassal’s Fables of Emotional and Physical Displacement solo exhibition ushers viewers into a packed-universe of animals and species, which will kindly invite the public to question displacement, global animal extinction and climate change. The exhibit makes viewers reconsider our environment and the changes needed to heal our dying planet.

For Vargassal, a native of Mexico –– a land of animals, sacred tales, magic and myths –– this journey through multiple fables is an allegory that finds no place nor meaning in the environmental, political, financial or social disaster. Rather, it finds meaning in a different imagination, one where civilization’s survival and life depends on its ability to awaken to its own conscience. In some images, we become witnesses to the battle for rebuilding our environment and society, whereas other images are vibrant reflections on the psychological and sociological changes desired by the artist.

Like Toledo, Vargassal creates a seductive character that connects to and establishes a dialog with animals as if he were a wizard, whose artwork and face fade away with every snapshot captured by a camera’s lens (as if his soul could be stolen by a flashlight). But it all just vanishes within the canvas.

- Marisa Caichiolo, Art Curator | Santa Monica, CA.