Ulises Beisso. Centro de Exposiciones SUBTE
ArtNexus, #119 (Dec - May 2023)

We went down the stairs of the Subte Exhibition Center and entered a small treasure cove, sheltered from the passage of time, where the exhibition “Rara Avis,” by Uruguayan artist Ulises Beisso (Montevideo, 1958-1996) was displayed. The show was installed in a series of rooms connected by semicircular arches, like a lair inviting us to walk at a slow pace and with an attentive gaze.

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This anthological exhibition brought together more than one hundred pieces that were never before exhibited as a whole. This important recognition exposed his oeuvre from a new perspective and in a more empathetic and pleasant context than the one in which the artist lived. His work remains fresh since it makes us reflect on the search for identity in a world where that which is different is not always well received. In this context, the figure of guest curator Pablo León de la Barra (Mexico, 1972), curator of Latin American art at the Guggenheim in New York, is especially relevant since he has dedicated his career to recovering the work of Latin American marginalized artists from the 1980s and 1990s who were censored or have been forgotten.

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Ambivalence coexists: joy and melancholy, courage and fear, love and pain. Much of his work is organized in compartmentalized series as self-contained capsules in dialogue. Although they differ visually, there are common elements in all of them: flowers, four-pointed stars (nautical roses), parts of the body (hearts, eyes, penises, and vulvas), and the strategic use of repetition. Figures in the foreground, usually centered and bare on monochrome color-plane compositions, are characteristic of his pieces. His series do not tell us so much about their temporal relationship with the time of their creation, but rather about an emotional relationship with the author’s state of mind during their conception.

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For instance, the “Doras” series—composed of several busts and sculptures of female figures built from an assembly of different objects—is vibrant and cheerful. They reveal a playful intention; the “Doras” are demi-goddesses who come to rescue fantasy and passion, while challenging the concepts of sin, guilt, and sacrifice.

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In this same line, his furniture and sculptural objects with occasional utilitarian functions—such as candlesticks, lecterns, boxes, or altars—stand out for their high-pitched and vibrant color palette (reds, violets, blues, greens, and yellows), signaling the impact that Mexico had on Beisso. There he met the work of artists such as Frida Kahlo while he studied at La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving—linked to Mexican muralism—between 1977 and 1979.

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In Beisso’s work there’s a naïveté that gives us a renewed image of humanity and its internal and social conflicts, which constitutes the foundation of his work. The human figure occupies a central place in his production, more self-referential in some works than in others. It is worth mentioning that when he returned to Uruguay in 1979, the artist studied Psychology, while he continued to train with Guillermo Fernández, a disciple of the Torres-García Workshop.

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The series “Imágenes de lo (mi) escondido” (Images of the (my) hidden) depicts a more mature and profound artist reflecting autobiographically on homosexual identity in the context of Uruguay in the 1980s and 1990s. In these paintings, a palette in sober and muted grays and blues is charged with a melancholic and somber air. The pieces are intimate and private; many of them feature a young man in his underwear looking at us from a dark and ethereal background, at times laden with thorny roses and four-pointed stars. Sexuality and eroticism here are intimately linked to the gaze of someone who judges. Beauty, pain, and suffering are condensed in these works.

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Also included in the show was the 2019 documentary La intención del colibrí (The Hummingbird’s Intention), directed by Sergio de León (Uruguay, 1971) and available on the Retina Latina website. Gathering statements by Beisso’s partner and family members, the film aims to make his work known posthumously.

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We walked out of the exhibition space feeling like one of his little boxed altars: our hearts exposed and vulnerable. His work pierced us like a rite of passage from which it is impossible to emerge unscathed.