{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":14632,"auction_id":14,"set_id":26,"lot_number":"40","artist":"Ronald Ventura (b. 1973)","title":"a) Waves b) Sunset Drama","starting_price":5000000,"signed_dated":"a) signed and dated 2010 (lower right)\nb) fiberglass/resin/polyurethane paint","medium":null,"size":"a) signed and dated 2010 (lower right)\nb) 20\" x 21\" x 18 1/2\" (51 cm x 53 cm x 47 cm)","property":"PROPERTY FROM AN ITALIAN COLLECTION","coa":null,"provenance":"Primo Marella Gallery, Milan","exhibited":"Primo Marella Gallery, Fragmented Channels,\nMilan, June 24 - September 10, 2010","literature":"Marella, Primo Giovanni et al. Ronald Ventura:\nRealities. Damiani editore. Italy. 2011. pp. 153-154.","write_up":"Unlike many artists who are faced with the constant challenge of defining themselves through the style and visual language of their practice, Ronald Ventura took on the task of confronting it through his diverse art, and makes some powerful visual statements with stunning directness. With his new ways of seeing, Ventura exerts his influence in overturning notions on presenting the human body, or formal problems once dominated late modern painting, or conceptions of the ideal as against the products of academic classicism of a still earlier age. His artistic canon is thus diverse and multifaceted, effectively showing the level of mastery he has over his craft.
The works and practice of Ventura are said to mirror those of American artist David Reed. Both artists have veered from the instantaneous and somewhat gratifying effects of art, specifically those found in Modernist pieces, in favor of a much more conceptual and engaged approach. This particular philosophy is present in these two pieces that were part of a landmark exhibit by Ventura titled Fragmented Channels. The exhibit sought to synthesize Ventura’s technical skill and his unique insight into the contemporary world. Thus, the works featured were not only varied in their subjects, but were diverse in terms of the media and materials used. The exhibit featured a number of dioramas which are relatively similar to those one would find in historical museums. But instead of recreating historical and pivotal events, Ventura shows us scenes of everyday life. Among them is Sunset Dreams which reveals to us that the eventual dissolution of a relationship is not as dramatic or climactic as the scenes we see on TV, but are more akin to a slow and uneventful decay. Waves on the other hand was among the oil paintings present at the exhibit. The work features a typical living room setting rendered in monochrome, albeit for one central figure. An old cathode-ray TV is displaying a broadcast in full color. A closer inspection reveals to us that the broadcast is fragmented and glitched in a way that obstructs us from learning its true purpose. Both of the works can be seen as an exercise of perception. In which a world that is dominated by consumption and creation of media also presents us with the possibility of shifting and distorted perceptions in lieu of what can be considered as truth.","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":"
Ronald Ventura (b. 1973) a) Waves signed and dated 2010 (lower right) oil on canvas 48\" x 72\" (122 cm x 183 cm)
b) Sunset Drama dated 2010 fiberglass/resin/polyurethane paint 20\" x 21\" x 18 1/2\" (51 cm x 53 cm x 47 cm)