Paisaje gris

On December 23, 1972, a high-intensity earthquake shook the streets of Managua, killing thousands of people and destroying hundreds of buildings. The negligence and belated response of Nicaragua’s dictator, Anastasio Somoza, provoked angry reactions and outrage nationwide. Deeply affected by the devastation and ongoing political corruption, Alejandro Aróstegui was moved to adopt new materials and aesthetic languages in order to represent this harsh reality. By incorporating discarded objects onto the canvas surface, Aróstegui evoked the material scarcity and dramatic experience of loss endured by Nicaraguans. "Paisaje gris" belongs to this period of material and formal experimentation. Aróstegui used smashed cans and crushed pieces of metal to construct still lives and landscapes that convey the subhuman conditions and environmental degradation that further eroded marginalized neighborhoods. His compositions recall the Cubist collages of Georges Braque, but instead of reducing visual depth and flattening spatial perspective Aróstegui’s monochromatic tones and degenerated forms portray a telluric and barren landscape, imbuing junk and material residue with expressive qualities and metaphoric meaning.

This text was created in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and written by Patricia Ortega-Miranda.