One is an aspect inherent to the laws of nature’s core, vital for all living beings, while the other serves as a discriminator, stealing from nature on a whim. Both speak in ravenous rasps longing to overthrow the world, yet while the nature of violence surrounds the globe like water’s quiet, ubiquitous force, the nature of water is nature itself.
In Agua Gusgo, interdisciplinary artist, and independent curator, Michael Anthony García considers humanity’s relationship with violence, and mortality’s ubiquitous presence. Central to the works presented is the written word, expressed via sculpture, installation, painting and performance, exploring violence through/ versus creation.
Agua Gusgo translates from Spanish to “gluttonous water”, though the word “gusgo” can also mean “having a sweet tooth”, ruminating on whether there are circumstances in which violence, as a response to adversity, can be justified, and if so, under what conditions and to what extent. García’s elegiac works also ponder the fleeting nature of life, our impermanence and our earthly tethers, both in relation to the tide of violence and through nature’s sweet insatiable tooth.
1
el corazón en la manga 1, 2024
text, manipulated clothes, sewing pins, house paint
20” X 20”
$800 each
Take it from me, Come and
Take It, this sorrow, this
mistrust those complicit tears,
that flow down so many
streets in amongst debris
detritus, mix with dust,
mud up steps that can
tread on us all.
2
códices 1, 2, 3,2024
tracing paper, marker, t shirt, hardware
19" X 24"
$100 each
As a child I solved world peace
with a fistful
of M and Ms
I may be a real pacifist,
but I will really pass a fist...
I think.
Let's cleanse blood of
diseases and not of
those genes, those of
which you're not
worthy of of of
because beauty also
can contaminate
and not that you
necessarily deserve it,
but it does no one any good
keeping it inside.
3
el corazón en la manga 2, 2024
text, manipulated clothes, sewing pins, house paint
20” X 20”
$800 each
All these papercuts want
is your perception. All they
need is to nag at you, and
wear you down, communication
weaponized to make you aware
of the edges of reality and
what you did or didn't
do about it, in reality.
4
Quieren Margaritas?, 2024
video loop, projection
5:00
NFS
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
the whole world blind
5
Goza, Enjoy, Entertain U.S., 2024
baby onesie, house paint, hardware
12” X 12”
$50
Babies aren't bored
so
don't feel
the need to entertain
them with flash and
bang with bombs
bursting in
air.
6
Capricho de Kukulkan # 1, 2024
collaged poem with t shirts,
60" X 16" X 2"
$300
Punctuation doesn't have to hurt, only act as ticks to mark time.
7
Michael Anthony García, 2024
video loop
2:00
NFS
8
el corazón en la manga 3, 2024
text, manipulated clothes, sewing pins, house paint
20” X 20”
$800 each
Point the barrel upwards in
celebration only take you out
with gravity and grazes your
gods. Point it at the ground
and you spoil the soil and
make a dent that will
eventually trip your step
and pull you to the ground
too.
9
Plot and Resolution, 2024
items from artist’s home, blanket, tarp
60" X 48
NFS
Guard
Outsider
Equality
Frontiers
Welcome to
Annual Tailgate Party
Outta
The Man The Myth The Legend
Si ya sabes como me pongo
Click Away
We'll deliver
give joy
10
WELL?, Read, 2024
books from artist’s home, hardware
36” X 36” X 16”
NFS