Dr. Lakra

September 27–December 15, 2018
Three uniformly sized works installed in a row on a white wall. All feature found portraits that have been altered using collaged images.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018

Four works installed on two walls: one to the left and three to the right. Two more wall-mounted works are visible in the next room. All feature altered found portraits.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018

Nine uniformly sized collages installed in a row along three walls in a gallery. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018

Nine collages installed uniformly in a row along adjacent walls: seven to the right and two to the left. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018

A close-up of a vitrine display table in which three uniformly sized lithographs with protective covers attached lay open like books.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018

A close-up of an altered 19th century portrait. Images of organic shapes resembling tumors have been collaged over the face. The figure holds up a cross-section of a skull.

Dr. Lakra

Untitled (El Renacimiento),

2013-2014 Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography

11.81 × 8.66 in.

A manipulated portrait of Mathieu Orfila. Images of leaves are collaged to various parts of his head so as to appear to emerge from his eyes, nose, ears and hair.

Dr. Lakra

Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014

Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography

11.81 × 8.66 in.

A manipulated portrait of Isaac Newton seated at a desk. Where his face should be, a diagram of the internal anatomy of the human abdomen is collaged. A small bunch of fruit is collaged on the top of his head, and a bird peeks out from behind his shoulder.

Dr. Lakra

Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014

Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography

11.81 × 8.66 in.

A manipulated portrait of Paracelsus seated at a desk. Another man’s head has been collaged over the subject’s head, and appears to gaze at a flying bee to the right.

Dr. Lakra

Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014

Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography

11.81 × 8.66 in.

Press Release

White Columns is pleased to present a solo exhibition by the Oaxaca, Mexico-based artist Dr. Lakra (b. 1972, Mexico City). Dr. Lakra’s work has been exhibited widely over the past three decades, but rarely in New York: this exhibition will be only his second solo show in the city, following a 2011 project at The Drawing Center.

At White Columns, Dr. Lakra will present a previously unseen group of recent collage works. Throughout his practice, which fluidly embraces drawing, sculpture, collage and tattooing, Dr. Lakra has created a deeply personal, visionary language borne out of a collision of his prevailing interests in anthropology and popular culture, to create often deeply unsettling works that revel in taboos and myths.

Dr. Lakra is an obsessive collector of objects and all kinds of printed ephemera, a tendency that is evident here (and also in his extraordinary artist’s books). Dr. Lakra draws from this encyclopedic range of found materials and imagery to create his recent collages, which include fragments excised from comic books, vintage anatomy manuals, lifestyle magazines, and much more besides.

Starting with a found portrait image, typically sourced from a historical volume and of a notable male subject, Dr. Lakra subsequently subverts the original image’s intent – i.e. to celebrate and aggrandize its subject – through an often sardonic reconstruction (or de-construction) of the subject’s identity.

In these collages, Dr. Lakra invokes the ghosts of Arcimboldo, Dada and Surrealism whilst reverberating with the contemporaneous work of artists as different as John Stezaker, Linder Sterling and Frida Orupabo, among others, creating in turn new ‘portraits’ that walk a fine line between the comedic and the grotesque.

Dr. Lakra (b. 1972, Mexico City). Solo exhibitions include: Dr. Lakra, Akvarelle Museet, Skarhamm, Sweden (2015); Mexican Demons and Dancing Skeletons: Dr. Lakra in dialogue with Posada, Hostelbro Kunstmuseum, Hostelbro, Denmark (2012); Dr. Lakra, Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico (2011);  Dr. Lakra, The Drawing Center, New York, United States (2011); Dr. Lakra, ICA, The Institue of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston (2010).

Dr. Lakra currently lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico.

This exhibition has been developed in collaboration with kurimanzutto, Mexico City. We would like to express our sincerest thanks to everyone at the gallery for their help in bringing Dr. Lakra’s work to New York.

For information or images contact: info@whitecolumns.org

Checklist

Related Press

Event

An event between Dr. Lakra and Matthew Higgs.

November 29, 2018

White Columns
91 Horatio Street
New York, NY

Three uniformly sized works installed in a row on a white wall. All feature found portraits that have been altered using collaged images.
Four works installed on two walls: one to the left and three to the right. Two more wall-mounted works are visible in the next room. All feature altered found portraits.
Nine uniformly sized collages installed in a row along three walls in a gallery. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.
Nine collages installed uniformly in a row along adjacent walls: seven to the right and two to the left. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.
A close-up of a vitrine display table in which three uniformly sized lithographs with protective covers attached lay open like books.
A close-up of an altered 19th century portrait. Images of organic shapes resembling tumors have been collaged over the face. The figure holds up a cross-section of a skull.
A manipulated portrait of Mathieu Orfila. Images of leaves are collaged to various parts of his head so as to appear to emerge from his eyes, nose, ears and hair.
A manipulated portrait of Isaac Newton seated at a desk. Where his face should be, a diagram of the internal anatomy of the human abdomen is collaged. A small bunch of fruit is collaged on the top of his head, and a bird peeks out from behind his shoulder.
A manipulated portrait of Paracelsus seated at a desk. Another man’s head has been collaged over the subject’s head, and appears to gaze at a flying bee to the right.

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018 (Three uniformly sized works installed in a row on a white wall. All feature found portraits that have been altered using collaged images.)

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018 (Four works installed on two walls: one to the left and three to the right. Two more wall-mounted works are visible in the next room. All feature altered found portraits.)

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018 (Nine uniformly sized collages installed in a row along three walls in a gallery. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.)

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018 (Nine collages installed uniformly in a row along adjacent walls: seven to the right and two to the left. A freestanding vitrine display table occupies the center of the room.)

Dr. Lakra, installation view, 2018 (A close-up of a vitrine display table in which three uniformly sized lithographs with protective covers attached lay open like books.)

Dr. Lakra Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014 Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography 11.81 × 8.66 in. (A close-up of an altered 19th century portrait. Images of organic shapes resembling tumors have been collaged over the face. The figure holds up a cross-section of a skull.)

Dr. Lakra Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014 Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography 11.81 × 8.66 in. (A manipulated portrait of Mathieu Orfila. Images of leaves are collaged to various parts of his head so as to appear to emerge from his eyes, nose, ears and hair.)

Dr. Lakra Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014 Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography 11.81 × 8.66 in. (A manipulated portrait of Isaac Newton seated at a desk. Where his face should be, a diagram of the internal anatomy of the human abdomen is collaged. A small bunch of fruit is collaged on the top of his head, and a bird peeks out from behind his shoulder.)

Dr. Lakra Untitled (El Renacimiento), 2013-2014 Ink, pigments and collage on nineteenth century lithography11.81 × 8.66 in. (A manipulated portrait of Paracelsus seated at a desk. Another man’s head has been collaged over the subject’s head, and appears to gaze at a flying bee to the right.)