Alejandro Thornton

A37

2011

Alejandro Thornton was born in 1970 in Buenos Aires. His work can be found in notable international collections including at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACB), Sakima Art Museum in Japan, Florean Museum in Romania, Kosmos Kultur Foundation in Switzerland and The Embassy of Holland in Buenos Aires. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Premio Videoarte Bienal Nacional de Bahia Blanca (2013), Premio Nacional de Puntura UADE (2013), Bollini Foundation Award (2012), Palermo Viejo Awards (1999), First Place Prize Prilidiano Pueyrredón Awards and Borges Art Center (1998). Thornton’s practice is rooted in the origin of language and the achievement of the word and image together throughout history. In much of Thornton’s drawings and paintings, A – The origin of the Alphabet – is spread throughout the canvas. His drawings and paintings employ simple and playful curvilinear brushstrokes in an all-over fashion. Such works are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum in comparison to the artists highly conceptual “A” paintings. In conjunction with each other, these two types of works nod to the inherent issues with Abstract Expressionism, which is decorative and highly accessible, yet infinitely less conceptual.