Almine Rech Shanghai is pleased to announce a two-part exhibition with the works by the renowned American conceptual artist, Joseph Kosuth, alongside a new body of works by the Spanish artist, Javier Calleja, on view from July 29 until August 27, 2022. It's Javier Calleja’s third solo exhibition with the gallery.
It's a little know fact that Javier Calleja's emblematic characters evolved through experimentation with drawings and the use of non-traditional materials. Starting from the minimalist concepts in which simple pictorial elements were often contrasted against concise textual components, the work was from the beginning consciously revolving outside of traditionally set parameters. In particular, it was the two drops of water resting on a paper surface that prompted the artist to start working with oversized watery eyes, building his entire artistic universe from such a primordial base. And as if continuing the mitosis-like expansion, the new body of work that the Malagan artist is developing is shifting the focus outwards from the protagonist itself, attributing the surrounding elements with similar, almost principal qualities.
— Saša Bogojev, writer and curator