Gabriel Chaile, born in 1985 in Tucumán, Argentina (Northern region of Argentina), describes himself as a “visual anthropologist.” He works with a variety of mediums and concepts, but notably through large earthen sculptures with forms reminiscent of distinctive ceramics of the Condorhuasi-Alamito peoples (c. 400 BCE–CE 700, Catamarca, Argentina) (BAMPFA). Chaile works through a concept he calls “the genealogy of form”, which he uses in his work to express the humanity and history of the form of these special objects, which he feels have been left out of education and museums in his life. His large earthen sculptures often anthropomorphize these distinct ceramic forms, breathing life into them from the anthropological histories or mythologies, as well as contemporary social references. He has had his work featured at the Venice Bianale 2022, Art Basel 2018, BAMPFA and more.
Art Basel, https://www.artbasel.com/news/meet-the-artists-gabriel-chaile?lang=en
Chaile works with self-described “very simple, basic, and also symbolic” materials, namely clay and adobe. He states his familiarity with clay, both as a building material, and as a vital part of the kitchen and culture through clay ovens. Because of this anthropological and cultural value he sees in the kitchen and cooking, many of his sculptural works are also clay ovens, such as the piece featured in Art Basel Cities 2018, “Portrait of Diego Nuñez” https://chertluedde.com/exhibition/art-basel-citiesgroup-exhibitioncurated-cecilia-alemanibuenos-aires6-12-september-2018-2/
Portrait of Diego Nuñez, Gabriel Chaile, Art Basel Cities 2018 https://chertluedde.com/exhibition/art-basel-citiesgroup-exhibitioncurated-cecilia-alemanibuenos-aires6-12-september-2018-2/
Video: (Art Basel) Meet the Artists | Gabriel Chaile:
Video Transcript:
Chaile: “What I would have liked, if I hadn’t been an artist, is to be a preacher or an archeologist. There was something about being a communicator and a researcher that I liked. I define myself as a visual anthropologist because I try to understand behavior through visual elements. From that I draw conclusions, and construct theories about my works, which I then apply to the community, and our current state in this world.
I try to understand things through their shape. The elements that I use are, generally, very simple, basic, also symbolic. I’ve always been familiar with clay, and with construction and building materials. Also the idea of the kitchen, the role of the clay oven, the life of the working class. I’ve been using bricks and eggs a lot lately, two shapes with potential. One is life and the other is a culture. There wasn’t any great artistic influence at home, In the academic sense. But my family has always been very artisanal, very much into using their hands. I feel a strong bond with Tucumán. It has a lot of history. The indigenous resistance was one of the stronger ones… I think I somehow soaked all of that up.
My project for ‘Rayuela’ consists of a public sculpture, which is a clay oven sculpture based on an iconic portrait situated in the neighborhood of La Boca: the portrait of Diego Núñez. It commemorates a young man who was killed in 2012. Generally speaking, my project relates to a concept I call ‘the genealogy of form.’ I look at the history of form. It relates to the archeological museums, to the history of artifacts. The evolution of those objects produced by the indigenous cultures mainly in the northwest of the country.
I also work with a concept that I call ‘necessity engineering’. It’s created from objects that no longer have their primary use. For example, a fridge that no longer works can be used as a cupboard or a bookshelf. I’m really touched by this. Lastly, creativity as an element that replaces necessity where aesthetic considerations are not important. Besides academic education, I was influenced by religious education, and the idea of the ‘miraculous’ to demand much more from materials than what they can offer. My work’s also connected to the resistance and my family’s Peronist history, their struggle, the magical aspect of the miraculous, and the environment of poverty. That’s why I return to the primitive forms of indigenous morphology.
I also have indigenous ancestry. They influence me in that sense too. I feel there’s a world view that can be linked to all these things. It’s difficult for me to define what art means to me. I think there’s something magical in art. It makes me think I can build many things, even things that I didn’t get to be, like a preacher or an archeologist. And I can operate from this place. It’s a space for illusion. Like… yeah, that’s it.”
Patricia, 2017. Sculpture, adobe, iron, bricks and eggs. 320 x 150 x 210 cm https://barro.cc/en/artists/18/gabriel-chaile
Gabriel Chaile, Selva Tucumana, 2024. Adobe, wood, metal structure, charcoal, two metal sculptures https://www.e-flux.com/criticism/618030/gabriel-chaile-s-los-jvenes-olvidaron-sus-canciones-o-tierra-de-fuego
In his most recent work on display in Berlin, Chaile moves away from the large-scale anthromoporphized pottery-esque sculptures, but stays within the realm of earth as material. His clay wall carving, Selva Tucumana (Tucuman Jungle) stays with Chaile’s anthropological interest, referencing ancient cave painting, and focusing on a common local animal with significance, the tapir. Also “filling the room, an audio piece in English and Spanish relates the myth of two baby tapirs who came down from the sky and slowly metamorphized into humans while terraforming their forests through fire and wit.” https://www.e-flux.com/criticism/618030/gabriel-chaile-s-los-jvenes-olvidaron-sus-canciones-o-tierra-de-fuego
