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 Orozco created the several
dozen works while in quarantine in Japan earlier
this year, but he oversaw their installation at
a top-tier Manhattan gallery the way millions
now work: virtually.
In a first for Orozco, the collection -
containing the watercolors, as well as larger
abstract paintings created mostly in Mexico -
debuted last month without a glitzy public
opening.
There was no chance for admirers or critics
alike to interact with the artist, renowned for
transforming ordinary items into poetic
flourishes since the early 1990s.
So, his new paintings were publicized with a
slick, video teaser set to dramatic music.
https://youtu.be/PyD1-WWyJ6A
Forced to rely more than ever on tools like Zoom
and Skype across a range of current projects,
the son of a leftist Mexican muralist says he
sees an evolving transformation of creativity
born from the upheaval of global pandemic.
"There is the opportunity, probably, of a new
generation to emerge, a new way of working to
emerge, an alternative way of living for
everybody to be reconsidered," he said, sitting
just off the lush courtyard of his Mexico City
home.
An hour earlier, squatting down with pencil in
hand, he discussed finishing touches to block
sculptures he calls dice with his collaborator,
Mexican stonemason Juan Fraga, who he had met
face-to-face for the first time in months.
Before the pandemic, the two would meet every
couple of weeks to refine the layers of
whimsical geometric designs carved into the
blocks.
Orozco said his art, spread generously over
sculpture, canvases, human and animal bones,
minimalist installations, and more, took a mild
hit from restrictions on travel and personal
contact.
"Like many people, I start to suffer this kind
of psychological effect of being in the screen
all the time," he said, calling it "very
distracting."
More generally, Orozco expects more changes
emerging from the pandemic's disruptions, even
if its ultimate impact on creativity and
inspiration is not yet clear.
ROLL OF THE DICE
Orozco, 58, sees the same changes that are
upending how people work - less face-to-face
contact and more screen time - also making their
mark on the museums and commercial art galleries
he knows well.
"In this new art world, there's going to be more
and more of a dependence on the distribution of
works with digital media, and so the gallery,
all the galleries, are making much more of an
effort," he said.
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 At the same time, his latest work appears to
have taken on a more introspective turn. He
noted that for his new watercolors he allowed
himself an indulgence he does not usually seek.
"Psychologically (the paintings) were
interesting because they became a very, I call
them a little neurotic, passionate, almost
therapeutic, which is something I don't like to
do in art," he said.
Orozco argues that the social isolation and
anxiety felt by many over the past few months is
already changing how we create and communicate. "The pandemic is a moment of a
crash of activity that accelerates the crisis
that was coming from before," he said, a few
hours before he was set to fly back to Japan.
The artist, who has also spent extended stints
in London, Paris, and Bali, said less travel had
been something of a relief.
"That was okay in a way because it was not so
bad to slow down," said Orozco, who studied art
in Mexico in the 1980s before leaving for Spain,
Brazil and the United States.
Last year, Orozco was tapped by Mexico's
president to oversee a more than $400 million
revamp and expansion of Mexico City's Bosque de
Chapultepec, a project he says will focus on the
sprawling urban park's ecological restoration
and social interconnectedness.
Surrounded by maps rolled out on tables and
three-dimensional models of the park, he said he
expects to finish the master plan by December,
but has otherwise pushed off all other projects
until 2022.
And he offered a related pandemic coping
mechanism.
"I don't plan too much ahead."
(Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by
Frank Jack Daniel and Rosalba O'Brien)
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