Sueño de las alturas [Dream of the Heights]

Primary Miguel Angel Ríos (Catamarca, Argentina, 1943–)

NationalityArgentinean, South America

Date1989

MediumCeramic, paint and wire on canvas over wood on Board

DimensionsAdditional Dimension: 50 × 48 5/8 × 5 in. (127 × 123.5 × 12.7 cm)

Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Barbara Duncan, 1994.123.a-b

Rights Statement

IN COPYRIGHT

Collection AreaLatin American Art

Object number1994.123.a-b

On View

Not on view

Label Text

Web Comments

Ríos combines geometric abstraction with pre-Colombian craft traditions and ancient symbols to reference complex issues such as the colonization and cultural conquest of Latin American territory, history and language. Sueño de las alturas [Dream of the Heights] is part of a series of works focusing on different forms of earth. The ceramic ovoid shapes attained their color by being fired with a variety of plants indigenous to Ríos’ birthplace in the Argentinean Andes Mountains. Arranged in a grid, the spheres are incised, painted and modeled with markings that evoke an indecipherable language and the rhythm of textile patterns native to the region.