From spindly towers made of octagonal drums to serpentine pavilions of converging cylinders, collaborative duo, Pezo von Ellrichshausen, create awe-inspiring installations and architectural phenomenons for biennials and art fairs across the globe. As well as contemplative sculptures and buildings, the polymathic duo fluidly transition between painting, drawing and screen-printing too.
The Collaborative
Chilean Mauricio Pezo and Argentinian Sofia von Ellrichshausen met by chance in Buenos Aires. Within a few days, they decided to bring their artistic minds together and form Pezo von Ellrichshausen. The couple founded their art and architecture studio in 2002 in Concepción, Chile. They constructed their part-home-part-studio in the shape of a small tower on a plinth. Here, in Cien House, they are able to live and breathe their artistic practice. The duo reached international heights when they curated the Chilean Pavilion at the 2008 Venice Biennale. They have gone from strength to strength since.
A Practice with a Difference
Work that is at once conceptual and intellectual, sensual and physical, the duo do not create art as we know it, they create experiences. They describe their style as ‘architectonic art’ for it blurs the line between art and architecture. They are particularly interested in themes of repetition and geometry, as can be seen in their geometric abstract prints such as SOLID/GOLD/BROWN - limited edition and hand-printed in Chile. The duo believe that a building cannot be depicted with a fixed viewpoint or classic perspective as this erodes the temporal dimension of its architectural space. The subject loses the pure experience of changing light, temperature and seasons on a construct, for example. Their geometric representations, therefore, explore the tension between documentation and experiencing the true narrative of a building or space.
Global Presence of Pezo von Ellrichshausen
Their work has been showcased worldwide, enjoying applause everywhere from Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, Venice Architecture Biennale, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Milan's Palazzo Litta and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. In 2014, the duo was also featured in an architectural show at London’s Royal Academy called ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.
