Helsinki
Anton Alvarez’s “The Colour of Gravity” (on view through August 30, 2026) opens whole other worlds of shaping clay. Driven by experimentation and technical innovation, the Swedish Chilean artist distances himself from traditional processes. Pinching, coiling, rolling out slabs, and shaping on the wheel are not for him; instead, his path is evolutionary, as he explores alternative means of making, employing intermediaries such as a thread-wrapping machine, extruders for molding clay or wax in the production of bronzes, and a recent hands-free method of spraying paper-mâché, each of which offer almost boundless possibilities. This show condenses that sense of limitlessness to an impressive selection of eight new and recent ceramic sculptures, arranged to foster illuminating associations.
For example, the placement of 2304261457 (2026), a sandy-toned ovoid, 0804261458 (2026), a polychromatic fluted column, and 0207262123 (2026), a twisted, knobby, purplish pillar, within an otherwise empty gallery evokes associations with the stage. The sculptures do more than punctuate the space, they also guide visitors through it. The journey of looking begins with the ovoid situated downstage left, then shifts stage right to the fluted column, and culminates with the knobby pillar, placed upstage center. That tiered formation, enlivened by plays of color, size, shape, and the manner of support, not only proposes a silent performance, but also draws us in to inspect the works up close.
The more animated sculptures in the adjacent space effectuate modes of gesture. While the short, matte-green, cactus-like 2007261001 (2026) leans forward in a friendly manner as if bent in greeting or, at least, acknowledgement, 1602211158 (2021), a black form with bent, upraised, muscular arms (or legs since it might be upside down), conveys the posture of a figure stretching or showing off a handstand. Interspersed among unadorned concrete pillars, these works also convey something about human tendencies through their visual, as well as affective, disparities.
1004261455 (2026), the darkest work in the show, stands apart from the other groupings. Though the squat form has been slathered in a vivacious ultramarine glaze and remains uncompromisingly still, its densely clustered, ragged blades suggest that it could bite into anyone or anything at any moment—an effect seemingly corroborated by the shocking yellow and green matter drooling down its supporting plinth. 1506261800 (2026), a gently curving and dazzlingly red fluted form resting on a back wall shelf, manifests a completely different sensibility. The stony fragment appears oceanic, evoking coral.
Existing in some sort of in-between space, Alvarez’s ceramic sculptures are many things at one and the same time. The sandy-toned 2304261457, in recalling the softness of sponge cake and polyurethane foam, betrays the material’s strength, weight, and hardness. Simultaneously mimetic and contradictory, abstract and representational, static and animated, concrete and hypothetical, his works embody references to architecture, the human body, synthetic materials, food, the gamut of life forms, Pop art, and Minimalist sculpture. An acquaintance offered a more succinct take, remarking that the artist’s purview stretches from ancient Rome to Play-Doh—a somewhat cheeky, and unusually insightful, observation. The nature of Alvarez’s broad sweep, so palpable in the physical evidence, is not limited to his works, though. It also inspires the poetic and philosophical title of the show. Embodying the twinned ideas of multiplicity and inevitability, “The Colour of Gravity” refers to the vast possibilities that lead to a single outcome—something that Alveraz is intently exploring via his body of work.
Anton Alvarez’s work is also on view in the group show “47th Tendencies: Kneaded. Shaped. Fired” at Galleri F 15, Moss, Norway, through October 20, 2026.
