Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is very pleased to present What else did I see?, an exhibition of new work by Rodrigo Hernández. This is the artist’s first exhibition with the gallery.

Rodrigo Hernández works across drawing, painting, relief, sculpture and installation, to create a personal constellation of images. His fantastical visual lexicon is rooted in a wide and distinctive range of sources: from Mexican pre-Columbian art to Japanese prints, from European modernism to science and literature. As in dreams, disparate scenes and sights are interwoven in surreal images, inviting the viewer to imagine new possibilities and uncover mysterious connections. Simmering with the emotional power of subconscious memory, Hernández’s works are suffused with the attraction of the unknown. His touchstones of poetry and philosophy frame his work within a broader epistemological and psychological exploration.

For Hernández, an exhibition often begins with an anecdote or question, often inspired by literary and aesthetic texts, which are then translated into drawing. In this presentation, the viewer first encounters a drawing that acts as a diagram of the entire installation, an amalgamation of various sources, including poetry, philosophy, lived experiences, and dreams. A bronze sculpture lies on the floor, illuminated by a small lamp made by the artist. In the main gallery space, two bronze sculptures are presented resting on a hand-painted pedestal, alongside a hanging papier-mâché́ sculpture and a drawing. Intimately scaled, oil paintings on wood encircle the sculptures, prompting imaginative encounters between imagery and meaning, forms and their environments. In the smaller gallery space, hand-hammered brass sculptures with captivatingly smooth surfaces glow on the walls, translating the artist’s dream-like drawings into sculptural reliefs that convey the intimacy of the moments depicted.