josé soto

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I want my pictures to reveal what is behind our immediate reality, to be playful and mysterious. I strive to explore structures and forms that are repeated in nature. I am captivated by the “concealed machinery” that is behind all that exists. From my perception, these works evoke the essence of structures such as bridges and temples, as well as natural and astral landscapes. I imagine that these spaces house memories, feelings, and thoughts that together compose the real being of things. They are spaces that can only be contemplated and where one can only be.

“Accustomed as we are to the portrait that reveals social realities, the enamored or changed landscape, or images of our urban and domestic surroundings, Soto’s photographs come across as shocking and pleasing at the same time. In his work we encounter little spheres that defy gravity, gentle craters and lines of undulating force, suggestive of contorted bodies. Distanced from the faces of our people, our monuments or desires, in other words, from our immediate reality, these photographs present us with a playful and mysterious world, both pleasant and intimidating, one that invites introspection…. It is necessary to confront the images and the feelings they arouse. For the work of Soto has a deceptive quality. At first sight, they may seem mere decorations; so beautiful are their compositions and colors. But the truth is that, given the chance, the works provoke intense feelings, suspicion, and joy…. these works are at the same time abstract and suggestive of the visible world, unchaining associative processes in our psyche.”-Mercedes Trelles Hernández