Analia Sandleris
Two large canvas works by Analia Sandleris @ MNAV
The National Museum of Visual Arts in Parque Rodo presents a series of large canvas works by Uruguayan artist, Analia Sandleris. Curated by Maria E. Yuguero, the solo exhibition opened on the 3st of August and continues upstairs in Salon 5 until the 21st of October, 2018.
Sandleris was first encouraged to develop her artistic skills in school by renowned Uruguayan master painter, Maria Freire. Analia went on to study Law but soon found herself drawn more to the visual arts. She took the route commonly followed by participating in workshops led by other prominent artists, first with Felix Bernasconi followed by Nelson Ramos and Guillermo Fernandez. Her career was also fortified after attending the “Engraving Techniques” sessions with Professor David Finkbeiner of New York University. Sandleris herself taught for almost two decades.
Analia Sandleris @ MNAV
Having spent so much time in Uruguay over the past two decades, common threads readily appear throughout its 20th and 21st century art. Many of them are represented throughout this series of Analia’s work.
The southern palette of dark warmth prevails, as does the interplay between loosely structural compositions, grids, matrices and subdued intimate details. Paint application is raw and physical yet thin and free, allowing an appealing layered transparency even when dark colors in the white-gray-black scale are punctuated with more dark colors.
Story-telling is personal and introspective. Themes are freed from any excessive or pre-defined dogma. Instead the artist invites the viewers to transport themselves through nostalgic retrospection in search of one’s own references as well as hers. Dark objects, lines and forms are frequently tethered to social symbolism of liberty, struggle and perseverance.
Analia Sandleris @ MNAV
What stands out for us is the comparatively large percentage of Uruguayan women artists who have reached the pinnacle of the regional market. Freire, as mentioned, was one, and there are dozens more including Ana Tiscornia, Claudia Anselmi, Veronica Vazquez, Ana Campanella, Lilliana Porter, Rita Fischer, and of course the artists of the exhibition in question, Analia Sandleris.
What’s more striking than the volume is the androgyny of the work. For the uninitiated, on first entry to many Uruguayan shows you would be hard pressed to determine whether the artists are male or female. Gone for the most part are references to machismo or feminism as well as even the slightest nods to stereotypical social or family roles. The works, especially by many Uruguayan artists born in the 50s and 60s such as Sandleris, are serious, determined and uncompromising. Many feature raw materials repurposed into organic visual creations. Tools can be tough, carry-overs from tradesmen and craftsmen who built a new nation with their bare hands over many decades. And yet the works often possess finesse with friction, subtleness combined with soaring forms and a peculiar balance between delicateness and aggression. Sandleris’s work, as shown in included images, is an excellent example of this particular local tendency with particularly strong lines and gesture.
Analia Sandleris @ MNAV
Analia Sandleris @ MNAV
MNAV Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales
Tomás Giribaldi 2283 esq. Julio Herrera y Reissig 
Parque Rodó - Montevideo - Uruguay
(Tuesday through Sundays, 1pm - 8pm. Free Admission.)
Also on display in other salons at MNAV are shows featuring the sculptures of Nora Kimelman, paintings and collages by Luis Solari and paintings by Miguel Angel Pareja. (Information to follow.
Also up is our latest visit to EAC, Espacio de Arte Contemporaneo, created in a wing of the former Miguelete prison, to see how it is progressing.
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