Marco Maggi, Landmark, 2014

2014

Medium

pencil on clayboard

Dimensions

40.6 × 121.9 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-1164593

An Uruguayan artist whose pavilion was the highlight of the 2015 Venice Biennale, Marco Maggi (Uruguay, 1957-present) creates spectacularly intricate works that speak to the over-saturation of information we’re faced with in today’s world, and force us to continually question and re-evaluate our perspective in order to make sense of the chaos. Maggi’s Landmark is composed of a dense network of minute, abstract markings. A subtle work, from a distance, the piece’s incredible detail and complexity is essentially unintelligible. Upon closer inspection however, the intricacy becomes immediately apparent—made all the more remarkable by the fact that it is done entirely by hand with miniscule, exacting pencil strokes on clayboard. As its title suggests, this piece references landscape and topography, both in its exaggerated horizontal form, and in the verisimilitude it bears to an aerial view of a town. As is typical of Maggi’s work, the innumerable symbols remain elusive and inscrutable—a satellite image, an abstract language, a magnified view of elements invisible to the naked eye. With his work, Maggi implores us to take a second look, to spend time allowing ourselves to adjust to the meticulous details, to re- examine our initial assumptions. Maggi’s work opens our eyes to new and multiple possibilities, guiding our vision and challenging our perception of what’s possible.