JAN 15, 2010 – FEB 28, 2010
Starting January 15, Common Sense presents Wood Forms: Sculptures by César Alvarez. A recent graduate of the University of Alberta’s acclaimed sculpture MFA program, Alvarez has caught the eye of critics both at home and abroad with his recent work.
Veteran New York art critic Piri Halasz called “Queen’s Beddings”, one of Alvarez’s latest works, the “most exciting new sculpture” she had seen on her recent Edmonton survey:
“Made of stained, waxed, & exquisitely pale wood, its surface was so sensuous that it made me want to caress it. The shape was also exciting: something of a table with what seemed a mostly flat top, but with all manner of startling new things going on below…. Born in Chile, he migrated to Canada at the age of 24, taught himself carpentry and passed the provincial licensing exams to become a journeyman carpenter and cabinet maker. Later, he turned to art, and enrolled in [Professor Peter] Hide’s program at the University of Alberta, but “Queen’s Beddings” clearly demonstrates the importance of his earlier experience in wood-working. Alvarez, too, is one of [the Edmonton Contemporary Artist Society’s] newer members, and the work he is showing… has no equal in New York.”
Common Sense 