Gabriel Delponte, the artist that captures society
Delponte has been in the States for 25 years. He is an autodidact visual artist who has had the privilege to present his oeuvres in iconic places like The Rockefeller Center, La Plaza de la Defensa in Buenos Aires, Art Basel (Switzerland & Miami), Korea, Japan, and even the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota among other countries.
After seven years of living and working non-stop in Japan, he decided to transfer to Oklahoma, promising to cause a revolution in the Tulsa art scene, showing which are the key concepts that degne the Sooner world.
"My business partner, Ricky Hanks, a native Oklahoman, proposed a collaborative project," explains Delponte. "Intrigued, I visited the city and accepted the offer. I brought my studio, combining art and industrial design, and now dream of opening an independent art space for Tulsa," he said.
He continues, "Moving here also presents an opportunity to delve deeper into American culture and explore uncharted artistic territories." More than just an artist, Delponte considers himself a cultural anthropologist, utilizing his skills to reinterpret spaces, explore concepts, challenge preconceptions, and infuse his art with profound insights into each location he visits.
He always starts his creative process following a concept and does not have a concise genre that degnes his art. He often combines painting, design, and even engineering in one piece that speaks of those things that move him and open the doors to catharsis.
"Usually, whenever I arrive in a new city, I choose something that catches my attention or that I want to analyze and create a project that follows those concepts. My painting varies in style and techniques constantly", he stated, adding that it is vital, in his quest for creativity, to learn about the history of the place he lives in to capture the essence of its people and show how they live.
"Traveling is my greatest pleasure," he confesses, describing himself as a world explorer who employs his "third eye" to portray the beauty, the ugliness, the irony, and the unseen aspects that resonate only with intuition.
In between his global explorations, Delponte left his mark on a thriving scene: He was present and even played a key part in the early days of Miami's Art Basel, witnessing its transformation from a %edgling event to a worldrenowned phenomenon. The experience instilled in him a deep appreciation for the power of art to invigorate a community and connect across cultures.
Delponte shared: "My earlier works often presented full-view perspectives like birds-eye views and architectural forms. They began as detailed drawings like distant landscapes, gradually incorporating map-like areas, creating a central dynamism that evoked a social sense. While I strive to present my own perspective as an author, I recognize I don't hold the authority over the work; it is the right of viewers to interpret and respond to the work on their own terms. I can talk about the piece and its terms, all of which can be matched or dismissed."
In opening his exhibition in Tulsa, he wants to explore how the "rims" in his works connect to a long line of wall sculptures while also presenting new proposals for transforming ready-made objects into serialized accumulations.
Delponte plans to use materials found in local debris to create mounted reliefs. He added that these weathered construction leftovers hold a particular charm: once integrated into structures, they've now lost their practical function and exchange value. This inherent history is what he believes makes them so appealing, as one will experience in "Monolithic - Landscape 1."
Very soon, he will unveil his Grst Tulsa exhibition of 2024, offering the city a chance to witness the work of a truly unique artist who fuses technical mastery with profound concepts to illuminate Tulsa in a new light and enrich the city's cultural tapestry.
This March Delponte will host his Grst art exhibition of 2024 here in Tulsa and all the people in town will be able to appreciate the work of a unique artist that fuses technique and concept to give our city a new meaning.
Once the opening date is Gnalized, La Semana will post the information in print and online. (La Semana)