Karen Navarro: The Constructed Self

30 APR - 25 JUN 2021

  • Foto Relevance is pleased to announce The Constructed Self, a solo exhibition by Houston-based multimedia artist Karen Navarro. The Constructed Self marks Navarro's solo debut at the gallery.

     

    Combining a survey of the artist's previous portfolio El Pertenecer en Tiempos Modernos (Belonging in Modern Times) with brand new meditations on self-representation and identity, The Constructed Self is a dizzying playground of texture, color, and unexpected contemporary portraiture. Navarro's works materialize in an abundance of forms, including social media hashtag-embossed prints, dynamic photosculpture configurations, and luminous, text-based LED pieces.

     

    Ever-intrigued by the notion of disrupting photography's conventional two-dimensional presentation, Navarro's new compositions come assembled in a multitude of ways - some stacked and spinning, others paneled and puzzled together. These geometric complexities illustrate the ability we all have to rearrange facets of our public-facing personas. Whether this malleability is a good or bad thing remains to be seen - though The Constructed Self surely has something to contribute to the conversation.

     

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  • Karen Navarro, Untitled (perspective), 2021
    Karen Navarro, Untitled (perspective). 2021

    From the Artist:

    The Constructed Self presents my two most recent bodies of work and explores themes of identity and self-representation through unconventional portraiture.

  • Karen Navarro, Fractured, 2021
    Karen Navarro, Fractured, 2021

    Using digital photography as a foundation, I transform traditional prints into three-dimensional objects by cutting and incorporating tactile elements such as wood, paint, and resin. The labor-intensive techniques I apply to create these sculptural objects not only allow for a physical deconstruction of my images but also become a form of meditation that reflects my efforts in trying to reconstruct and make sense of my own identity.

  • Karen Navarro, Puzzled, 2020
    Karen Navarro, Puzzled, 2020

    Some of the pieces that make up these dimensional portraits can be rearranged and displayed in various ways to express the notion that identity is a social construct. At once colorful, surreal, and minimal, my constructed portraits invite the viewer to challenge their own perceptions and biases, by highlighting the complexities that make up who we are.

     

    Karen Navarro

  • KAREN NAVARRO, REAL, UNREAL, SURREAL, 2021 KAREN NAVARRO, REAL, UNREAL, SURREAL, 2021
     KAREN NAVARRO, REAL, UNREAL, SURREAL, 2021
  • KAREN NAVARRO, WHEN IS THAT WE TRULY BELONG?, 2021 KAREN NAVARRO, WHEN IS THAT WE TRULY BELONG?, 2021
    KAREN NAVARRO, WHEN IS THAT WE TRULY BELONG?, 2021

  • Navarro's works serve as enchanting visualizations of the intersections and contradictions in our myriad identities. Seemingly poised to morph into alternative configurations in the blink of an eye, each piece in The Constructed Self muses on the liminal spaces in between how we present ourselves to the world, how the world perceives us in return, and the questions of authenticity and belonging (or lack thereof) that arise in the fray. Coupled with this line of thinking is Navarro's committment to diverse representation among her collaborative subjects, who are frequently sourced via open calls on Instagram.

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    (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

  • In Navarro's earlier series El Pertenecer en Tiempos Modernos (Belonging in Modern Times), the artist reflects on social media and the personas that we choose to enact across our shared digital landscape. Drawing from the color palette of Instagram and Facebook's universally recognizable logos, each unique portrait in the series is embossed with the top one hundred trending hashtags of the particular point in time in which the work was created. As virtual markers of online communities, these hashtag aggregations act as brief, ephemeral snapshots of our society's interests and movements in flux.

  • About the Artist

    Karen Navarro is an Argentine-born multidisciplinary artist living and working in Houston. Navarro works on a diverse array of mediums that includes photography, collage, and sculpture. Her image-based work centers around the topic of identity, self-representation, and belonging. Trained as a fashion designer and photographer, Navarro studied at the University of Buenos Aires and completed the certificate program in photography at the Houston Center for Photography. Her constructed portraits are known for pushing the boundaries of traditional photography, the use of color theory, surreal scenes, and minimalist details.

     

    In 2019 she received the Houston Artadia fellowship and most recently she has been shortlisted for the 2020 Photo London Emerging Photographer of the Year Award. Her work has been exhibited in the US and abroad. Selected shows include Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), USA; Galerija Upuluh, Zagreb, Croatia; Lawndale Art Center, Houston, USA; Elisabet Ney Museum, Austin, USA; Melkweg Expo, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Houston Center for Photography, Houston, USA; and Museo de la Reconquista, Tigre, Argentina. Navarro’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including ARTnews, The Guardian, Observer, Rolling Stone Italia, and Vogue Italia.