KERA Arts Story Search




Past Events

Opening Reception - Joachim West: Broken


Ro2 Art in The Cedars

Where: Ro2 Art | Cedars, 1501 S. Ervay St., Dallas, TX 75215

On view: June 1 - June 29, 2019

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 1, 7-10 PM

Ro2 Art is proud to present Broken, a solo exhibition by artist Joachim West, with a companion exhibition by Thor Johnson, whose work will touch upon similar themes.  The show will run from June 1 through June 29, 2019. Ro2 Art will hold an artist reception at their main gallery location in the Cedars neighborhood at 1501 S. Ervay St., Dallas, TX on Saturday, June 1 from 7 - 10 p.m.

Joachim West presents drawings and paintings composed of two intertwining narratives exhibiting the capacity of art to break down barriers of fear, hatred, and intolerance. The first narrative revolves around the Jewish artist’s experience of returning to Spain to discover his village covered in anti-Semitic graffiti and his journey to fight back against the extremism.  The second narrative portrays the artist experiencing a transforming encounter of inspiration, while simultaneously dealing with the trauma of hate and suffering he’s just witnessed. Rendering his other-worldly characters and environments in meticulous detail, Joachim West invites us into a surreal chronicle that offers the viewer a unique lens to view the world.

Artist Statement

Broken is an exhibition about the power of art composed in a non-classical narrative that follows the artist as he works to break down the walls of intolerance, fear, and hatred by using his powers, the ability to make magical objects and to see the world in a unique way.

Broken is composed of two narratives that are intimately connected and intertwined.  The first of them is a literal narrative in the form of a mini-doc about the Jewish artist’s experience of returning to Spain to find his village covered in xenophobic, anti-Semitic graffiti and his search to uncover the underlying causes and to fight back against this extremism through his art.

The second narrative plays out across the walls of the gallery whereupon the artist has a transforming encounter with inspiration by which he is gifted but also faces a psychological break.  Bombarded by visions of a dark world full of hatred and suffering, can he pull himself together to use his new-found powers of creation to make the world a better place?

About the Artist

Joachim West (Michael Joachim Westfried Soriano), a first-generation American of Spanish-Jewish descent, was born in Connecticut in 1985 and currently resides in Galveston, Texas.  Joachim earned an MFA in Producción Artística from La Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain and a BA in Art & Performance from The University of Texas at Dallas.

Joachim's work has at times captured the attention of the press both nationally and internationally. His work has been featured on CBS News, Yahoo News, Channel 5 News UK, Artnet, the Dallas Morning News, The Independent, D Magazine, The Dallas Observer, Arts & Culture and numerous other publications. Joachim's work has been displayed at the Meadows Museum of Art and at various other private and public art spaces nationally and internationally. Joachim's work was included in a tribute show to Lee Baxter Davis at the Meadows Museum of Art, an artist whose teaching has produced artists such as Trenton Doyle Hancock, Gary Panter, Robyn O'Neil, and Georganne Deen.   Joachim has shown internationally and has been included in the Huntington Art Exhibition twice. He has been selected for solo shows, group and juried exhibitions in both the United States and abroad, including exhibitions curated by Trenton Doyle Hancock, Wouter Van Loo, Benito Huerta, Aaron Parazette and Joan Davidow. His work was recently chosen for La Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo Emergente Eve-Maria Zimmermann in Spain.

About Ro2 Art

Ro2 Art, a contemporary fine art gallery located in The Cedars Neighborhood near Downtown Dallas, represents a diverse group of emerging, mid-career, and established contemporary artists – many with ties to the North Texas Region. The gallery, founded in 2010 by mother-and-son partners Susan Roth Romans and Jordan Roth, regularly collaborates with organizations such as The MAC and Cedars Union and maintains an exhibition program within the Magnolia Theatre at West Village and other satellite venues. Ro2 Art has been named Dallas Observer's "Best Art Gallery" and was presented with the 25th Annual Obelisk Award for small business by the North Texas Business Council for the Arts. The gallery's art fair program has included the Dallas Art Fair, Texas Contemporary, and Art Aspen.

All works will be view June 1 - 29, 2019. Please join us for the opening reception on Saturday, June 1, 7-10 PM at Ro2 Art in The Cedars, located 1501 S. Ervay Street, Dallas, TX 75215. For more information, visit www.Ro2art.com, or call Jordan Roth at (214) 803-9575.

Official Site   Facebook

Price
  • FREE!


FB ATTENDING HERE
1501 S. Ervay · Dallas, TX 75215


Sights & Sounds

SHARE