Julio Alpuy:
An International Painter and Sculptor

Julio Alpuy, one of the preeminent artists of the workshop of Joaquin Torres-Garcia, has always been an independent painter and sculptor to whom no stylistic label accurately applies. Each of his works in all varieties and mediums, from the earlier to the most recent, more than 40 of which are on display in this retrospective, evolves from and goes beyond what he learned at El Taller.

Reality and nature are the sources from which Alpuy's works begin. Throughout his life, he has journeyed and worked far from his native Uruguay, traveling to other countries in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. Recollected moments from these experiences often inform his paintings, which include constructivist cityscapes as well as imaginary landscapes and symbolic abstractions taken from nature.

In his paintings, Alpuy sometimes provides traditional clues (in differently constructed compositions) to hint at the depth of a space. Yet the richness of Alpuy's combinations of earth and primary colors refocuses the viewer's attention on the surface. Although Alpuy has defined himself as "basically a painter," he began to do reliefs and sculptures in wood when he arrived in New York in 1961. From the monochromatic tones of his works on wood and on canvas to his intensely colored paintings, Alpuy maintains his consistency of message and style.

Alpuy eloquently summed up that message in an interview for the catalog of the 1980 exhibition Julio Alpuy, which was held at the Galeria de Arte Karlen Gugelmeier in Montevideo: "An artist is a builder - builder of something he believes in and has faith in. To express something as an artist is to assert something as a man. To build is a way of expression. The conscious expression of a man who is an artist who builds with elements is to create something solid, a unity."

Maria R. Balderrama

© 1996 Mishkin Gallery, Baruch College