Latin American Masters gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings by José Alberto Marchi (Argentina, 1957). Marchi’s exhibition is inspired by The Sacrifice (1986) by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky’s protagonist, in an unexplained act, sets his own house on fire.  Marchi takes this image of a burning house and combines it with images of anonymous characters taken from late 19th century photographs, creating strange new paintings that allow for a multiplicity of interpretations.

   In my new series, I attempt neither to explain nor interpret. Of course, I have my own ideas about these  works, but I prefer that the pictorial language shape itself freely in the mind of the viewer. That is exactly  what I always try to do when it comes to painting.

Jose Marchi
Buenos Aires, 2013

 A past recipient of Argentina’s National Prize for drawing, José Alberto Marchi’s selected solo exhibitions include: Solis Flama, Podewill, Berlin (2004), Música Blanca, Centro Cultura Recoleta, Buenos Aires, 2005, and Tierra Celeste (organized by Belgium’s M Museum), Cypress Galerie, Leuven, Belgium (2009). In addition to his work as a visual artist, Marchi is a composer. His collaboration with Circular (a duo with Daniel Varela) has an extensive discography. Sacrificio is the artist’s third exhibit with Latin American Masters.