Claudio Sotolongo. The Transcultural Gaze: Objects, Stencils, and Prints
Claudio Sotolongo’s work traces an artistic journey from the iconoclastic forms of contemporary graphic art to more seemingly conventional expressions, equally dense in aesthetic and conceptual discourse. Far from abandoning his provocative spirit, Sotolongo refines his visual codes and sharpens his critical gaze. His visual language, though more restrained, remains incisive. The evolution of his style reveals a maturity that embraces tradition without succumbing to it, expanding the boundaries of what is accepted in design and visual arts.
One of the defining features of his work lies in the paradox between the density of content and the clarity of formal presentation. Sotolongo conveys powerful messages with remarkable economy of means, transforming minimalism not into a renunciation but into a lucid synthesis. In his pieces, every line and every void become meaningful presences. The functional essence of graphic art remains, yet it is subjected to an aesthetic radicality that subverts and enriches the message.
Moreover, his practice shows a fascination with fragmentation that does not break but challenges. The unfinished or dispersed elements are not perceived as flaws, but as strategies to engage the viewer, inviting active participation in the construction of meaning. In this interplay of fragments and silences, suggestions and absences, a visual poetics unfolds—one that demands attention and reflection. Sotolongo does not merely design; he builds symbolic territories where the unsettling and the essential meet.
