David Gericke Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1965 -

BIOGRAPHY DAVID GERICKE

Born in Mendoza, Argentina, 1965.

1982-1986 Studied at the School of Fine Arts, Mendoza (Professor of Fine Arts).

?1992: 1st Price Salón Vendimia, Mendoza.



David Gericke was born on the 17th of March 1965, in Mendoza, Argentina. Son of a writer from his mother’s side; the father a sculptor. Initiates his first steps in plastic arts by playing at a very early age with the ceramic sculptures of Don Manuel Eduardo, who then lived with his family in Rio Gallegos, Patagonia.



The wild landscape of southern Patagonia would forever permeate his work, being recreated in the horizons of his paintings, or in those profound invernal atmospheres, where light makes way through the thick of cold floating in a sky that seams endless.



This first infancy introduces him to the strange, mystical and profound atmosphere that exuded the ateliers of the old artists of yesteryear, and which even today may emanate from a contemporary atelier where forms, odors and colors magnetize space to create that strange and mystical atmosphere. Later this mysticism is thematically visible and made conscience in both his paintings and sculptures.



In intimate conversation which is equally melancholic and intuitive, Gericke speaks to us through his plastics of transcendental themes: Spiritual beings, at times demigods and at others beggars, stains that in the course of time und with the expertise that comes through practice are transformed in landscapes of subtle intuition, of expansive silences, or which may burst into cosmic constellations and rhythms of modulated color.



Later in 1972 his family moves to the capital of the province of Entre Rios, Paraná, on the Argentinean coast. Maria Laura, his mother, teaches him to understand music and literature as a medium, which he uses to travel instantly into internal journeys, and as a source of motivation: “No medium exists more conclusive and effective in transporting us to other realities than music”. In Paraná Gericke commences his studies at the school of Visual Arts. At the age of 15, still a student of art, he receives his first assignment for a sculpture. Although contact with artists of his environment (who are his own teachers) is fluent and favorable, his mother decides, after 3 years ind the "Escuela de Bellas Artes", to send him to continue his studies in the city of Mendoza, wich lies at the feet of the Andes mountain range.



At that period, following the death of General Peron, a difficult and perilous period of military dictatorship afflicts the entire country. His father works in the realization of sculptures and monuments of important historical personalities and various people from the political sphere of the moment, including the presidents of the Republic of Argentina Doctor Ilia and general Onganía, who personally visited his fathers studio, among other prominent members of society, for various sculptural assignments.



Later, being a student in an arts academy was not seen favorably by the militaries that had taken control of government. This was a time of repression and censorship, where to think or express yourself freely was brutally repressed. Notwithstanding, Gericke continues evolving and in 1982 is accepted in the ‘Escuela de Bellas Artes de la ciudad de Mendoza’, one of the most important institutions for the study of art in Argentina.



In the highly satisfying environment of Mendoza he is filled with new input and experiences, for example driving him to form part of a group of lecturers of philosophy and theology, which conducts him to join the masonry. In the academy of arts he meets many talented young artist of whom very few will ever conclude their studies, due lamentably to the hostile environment afflicting the country during those dark years of military dictatorship of which even today it has not fully recovered.In Mendoza he establishes friendship with renowned artist and works with many of them in their studios.



With Ricardo Marino he learns the techniques to work with marble. With Elias Olibera he studies the various techniques for the foundry of bronze. With Pedro Pescara the techniques required for the foundry of aluminum. Roberto Rosas becomes a close friend and a source of profound motivation through his work crating sculptures with sheet iron using an extremely difficult and labor intensive technique. Later Gericke develops this technique while working in Europe and creates an entirely new one that will enable him to work for the first time with plates of bronze.



Alfredo Ceverino and Antonio Sarelli are his maestros in painting whose work will serve as stepping-stones in painting for Gericke. During this period Gericke participates in different contests, obtaining various prizes or mentions of honor. One of the earliest prizes he takes is first prize at the competition Salon Vendimia.



Immediately after graduation, he commences intensive exhibition work in diverse galleries of Buenos Aires where he meets Gaimari, one of the most prominent Argentinean sculptors.In Mendoza he exposes repeatedly in galleries such as AB, Gimenes, Museum Fernando Fader, Museum of Modern Art etc.He establishes contacts in the USA and Australia where he sells numerous sculptures.



This motivates him to travel to Europe, a goal that he had set for himself at a very early age. Mendoza is long renowned not only for its excellent wine but also for its great thinkers and artists, but provincial life ceases to seduce Gericke, bringing him to the decision, after trading a ticket to Rome for one of his sculptures, to emigrate into voluntary exile. In 1992 he reaches Italy, where he will remain for a short time only, eventually residing in Barcelona, where he will remain for two years. Here he works at a jeweler’s shop on the Barceloneta in an old residence that had once belonged to Pablo Picasso.



Restless for new discoveries and different cultures, he receives an invitation from a friend living in Cologne, one the most important cultural centers in Europe and, in relation to its population, the city with the largest number of art galleries in the world. Gericke accepts at once. In Germany he encounters an atmosphere contrary and conceptually opposed to what Spain had to offer. He sees this as a stimulating challenge.The first years are full of hardship, starting with having to learn German, but eventually productive, the cold and rainy climate leading Gericke to the rediscovery of his inner origins. The old sensorial images begin to emerge and shape his work, while an impulse to introspection and contemplation form a channel that leads to the demigod Quetzal, the majestic and mythological South American Condor, those large southern estates of Patagonia emerging from a time immemorial, and the abundant, humid and warm vegetation of the Mesopotamian forest, to find a new consistency and dynamic in his paintings. At the same time, on his transmuted palette coexist the Chimuis, Mochicas, Calchaquies pitchers of old with the vigor of Mayan turquoise blue and the beautiful graphical geometry of Inca textiles.The magical mysticism of the Andes mountains instinctively find a parallel somewhere within Germanic rationalism.





In a process of constant transformation, the work of David Gericke, besides being a fusion of Latin American roots and European culture, is supported by a work of contemplation in which spirituality plays a key role. His new series of sculptures, "Soul Bearers" is a clear example of this evolution in his work, in which the individual act of creation gives way to a universality in aesthetic language.