Details

Catalog summary

Arturo Sanchez See Through Objects COLLAGE ON MIRROR AND CANVAS 152.5 BY 122 CM.; 60 BY 48 IN. Condition The painting is in good condition. "In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE." Catalogue Note In Mirror, American writer Sylvia Plath compares the titular object to "the eye of a little god." The poem begins: "I am silver and exact./ I have no preconceptions./ Whatever I see I swallow immediately/ Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. I am not cruel, only truthful— The eye of a little god, ...". Arturo Sanchez, forever enamored of "the eye of a little god," continues his exploration of mirrors as a medium in See Through Objects, a piece that "swallows" collages made from vintage magazine cutouts. Sanzhez traps random images behind the reflective surface of bubble mirrors and seals them in with a layer of lacquer. The result is similar to a double exposure: we see distorted versions of ourselves superimposed with Sanchez's compositions. We look at his mirrors, which, in turn, look back at us. We become both subject and object. Bubble mirrors, also called convex mirrors, are a new addition to his technique. In previous experiments, Sanchez, a grand prize winner at a nationwide art competition, used plane mirrors as flat canvases for his cutouts and collages. See Through Objects synthesizes everything he has learned thus far about his medium. He combines an oil-on-canvas painting with his mirror collages to form a single whole. A white-on-black depiction of a man sitting in a rocking chair, legs crossed, serves as the background of both the work and narrative. The subject permanently has his back turned to us viewers; over his shoulder, we spy an empty sketchpad cradled in his hands. Mirrors embedded in the canvas hover like glass bubbles above him and it is up to us to make sense of the seated man's stream of thought. Sanchez tasks us with giving meaning to the images he has trapped in his mirrors and, like the woman in Plath's poem, we are invited to search them for what we really are.