Mónica Lapaz, images of a recomposed architectural landscape
Cemento Rosa - Acrílico sobre canvas - 2021
Mónica Lapaz, a.k.a. “Moniquin” to her closest allies, is a contemporary visual artist from the Dominican Republic mainly known for the architectural nature of her work and aesthetics. This should come as no surprise, since Mónica also happens to be trained as an architect. In addition to that, she was born in the capital city of Santo Domingo, to a family living in the Gascue district, known for its rich and eclectic architectural heritage that ranges from neocolonial residencies to art nouveau and modernist houses. Gascue’s built environment is one of the gems of the city’s landscape, but that’s a topic for another Blog entry.
A graduate of the Altos de Chavón School of Design (Magna Cum Laude), her work has been presented in solo and collective exhibitions. Her latest solo show took place in 2018, when she presented the body of paintings titled “Citadina” at La Alpargatería in Santo Domingo. Her work has also been presented in the following group shows: at the 27th Santo Domingo Biennale in 2011 and “Gazcue Único : Retrato y proyección” held at the Spanish Cultural Centre of Santo Domingo in 2015. In 2020 she was awarded a La Cooperativa: Convite grant, a support fund created and managed by Dominican artists for the local artistic community, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In my images I recompose architectural elements that belong to the impersonal and hostile urbanism I perceive while roaming around Santo Domingo” writes Mónica Lapaz in her artist statement. “I make use of isometric perspectives, rhythmic compositions, and of a colour pallet as heterogeneous as you can find in the streets. I draw balusters, columns, fences, ceramics, statues, concrete blocks, barb wires, signs, and graffiti that, in fact, visually compete with each other, for they lack any apparent order in their dispositions, proportions and combinations”. She continues: “I seek to reorganize these elements with the intention of finding harmony in my surroundings, to counterbalance the visual chaos that overwhelms me as I walk around the city”.
Marie Jiménez, a Dominican visual artist, describes Mónica’s work in the following terms “Her drawings are entangled with elements present in our polarized class society’s day to day life, elements which precipitate us into our contemporanity. She starts by introducing our spontaneous architecture, which in her drawings becomes a graphic and aesthetical resource to speak about what we, as a society, take for granted, in a very particular way. Therefore, Mónica’s work, while departing from a subjective and abstract origin, becomes a social and political discourse, guiding us to envision our relationship with the tangible and how our existence and actions influence the city”.
We invite you to explore Mónica’s urban visions with a collection of images, kindly provided by the artist herself for this Blog entry.
