San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
WHAT’S NEW IN THE ARTS
At Quint, ‘Walking on Water’ is still relevant after all these years
Thanks to the magic of Facetime, I took a personal virtual tour last week of the new 3,000-square-foot Quint Gallery art space in La Jolla. (In-person visits are available by appointment only.) My hosts were owner/founder Mark Quint and gallery director Isabel Westlake. The main attraction? “Walking on Water,” an installation by Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar.
Jaar’s provocative work — borrowed from a Del Mar collector for this exhibition — is composed of photographs on light boxes depicting migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the U.S. We only see the torso and legs of these men, which mirror your own legs as you walk past each light box. Mirrors situated behind each light box reflect a different image and expand your immersive experience with Jaar’s piece.
“The beauty of the installation is that as you get closer, like everything in life, you get so much more information and you start participating because you can see part of your own journey exploring it,” Westlake said.
Added Quint: “You see your own legs walking, so you really become part of the piece.”
Though “Walking on Water” was created in 1992, its timeliness and its relevance to this part of the country in particular is undeniable.
“(It’s relevant) politically, of course, due to the migration thematic it portrays,” Westlake said, “but also socially since the full picture remains forever elusive despite our personal attempts to engage, question, reflect, ponder, wonder.
“At the end of the day, we viewers never get our feet wet. But the art definitely takes us one step closer, and we happen to live in a region where this resonates deeply.”
“Walking on Water” will be on exhibit through April 24. Also part of the new Quint space is the attached The Museum Of …, which currently features photography by Richard Ross in an exhibition titled “Museology.” quintgallery.com