From the ashes

Translation by Belinda Duckles

Cae la ceniza sobre mi mano y el instante es egipcio
David Huerta

In his book La apariencia desnuda. La obra de Marcel Duchamp, Octavio Paz wrote: ''The history of Modern Art, from the Renaissance to our days, can be described as the gradual transformation of the work of art into an artistic object", to point out later on: "The value of a painting, a poem or any other artistic creation is measured by the signs it reveals to us and their possible combinations. A work of art is a signifying machine¨.

The works of an artist, like those of a poet, are similar in many ways; they seek to render meaning to the pieces they produce, to give them life beyond the hidden intentions of the creator, granting them the power to transcend and touch the spirit of whoever sees them, observes them and assimilates them unto himself.

The works of William Berry, whether on canvas or paper, stone, plates or in the garden, are permanently struggling against this double condition, the illusion of the work as an object and the temptation of the artist’s mask, the idea that the artistic product is what is worth preserving, showing, buying or selling; the temptation to produce objects for others to collect. For the artist all is in the process, the work will always be definitively unfinished until it has met with it’s spectator, it’s public. Maybe this is why, for Will Berry, the main source of ideas and resources, energy and strength, is in nature, in his surroundings, in the air he breathes, in the rotating signs.

From the moment he wakes until he goes back to bed his work occurs in an evolution towards the art of combinations, the search for meaning towards and from the world that surrounds him; this is why his terrace on the colonia Roma is becoming a garden of ideas, a space where the mind can run wild thrusting its nets towards a reflection on the steps that turn the artist into a nomad, a traveler.

In this dynamic that is inhabited by contemporary artists, Will Berry shakes free of his shadow and steps aside, abandoning himself, his Western world, and throwing himself into the adventure of being an Other, a new arts that does not wish his work to be mistaken with the work of the artist, his ouvre with what is expected from him. Proof of this is his obsession with napkins, a meticulous and systematic work he has been practicing for 20 years, and that has become a logbook, a memoir of the places where he has been, lived, dreamed; an inventory of the days and hours that have crossed his gaze, of the sketcher who surrenders himself to the pleasant trade of absolute contemplation.

It is also, however, proof of his relationship with the here and now; a need to anchor all, a certain moment in space that can be, as if through the absorption of ink on the thinnest, maybe most insignificant, surfaces, as if he were fixing his skin and his ideas in those pieces of paper. Again, insignificances in search of meaning, signification, signs, and points in which to fix the gaze and land a rotating mind.

This series exemplifies his passion for drawing, for creating anywhere, anytime. From a handful of napkins selected from a dozen boxes brimming with pieces of paper, collected along the years in restaurants and cafes of various cities in the world, one takes a piece of his memory that, ultimately is a piece of collective memory.
The title of the series, which originates this book, could have been Below the Black Mountain, Clearly alluding to Lowry's book, as well as the emblematic Black Mountain School, but it could also have been The Heart of the Black Stone, or beyond that, From the Ashes. Why? Because this small series is the result of Will Berry’s residing in Mexico City and, above all, his appropriation of this country, its images, its being and its signs; southern Mexico City and its black, volcanic stones.

An exhaustive research into the life and work of this artist would undoubtedly shed more information about his way of seeing and listening, no to mention his particular way of talking in a low voice, almost a whisper, as if he was establishing a position that emphasizes the sense and the essence of what is said rather than it’s form or potency. The value and strength of the world are within it, and even though it is important to demonstrate certain power when expressing them, it is a fact that mystery and silence are more readily associated with serenity and equilibrium.

While I write these lines I reflect on the possible relationship between the words and the signs exposed by Will in his napkins and, above all, on the importance of these pieces in the corpus of his work, in the personal history he has drawn during the last 20 years. From the Ashes feels like the most adequate title to find affinities with his work, for his process is that of the Phoenix that rises from the ashes in a new vital adventure that began when he moved to Mexico City.

His, seems like a resurrection, a coming back to life to honor the moment, Carpe Diem, to honor friendship, creation, conversation. His, seems a levitational existence that only lands long enough to make concrete the works that shape his personal catalogue, the paintings, engravings, plants, roots, the few pieces of furniture that co-inhabit this vital space

This book, The Pull of the Air, appears under the editorial seal of Taller Raiz (sister company of Chichicastle Art Press), and must be celebrated for reasons beyond the obvious. Books on artists, author-based, object-books, are disappearing. I celebrate that Taller Raiz is showing us a road to be followed, hard to traverse, certainly, but walkable. A road with heart, as Carlos Castaneda said Don Juan Matus used to say, even though both were just a line drawn in water, a road where to meet ourselves, to temper us, to find a better place in the world. In conversation, William Berry said: "In Pull of the Air, we were able to create a series of original engravings with the skill of master engraver Eric Muñoz, who reproduced 10 of napkin drawings using a process in which the image is transferred directly onto the coppe plate¨. In this book and in his art, in his work and in his friendships, William Berry finds abetter place in the world.

Will knows there is no rest; this place only exists if he recreates it every day. As Quantum Physics explains, the world is what we want it to be, like we want it, when we want it, and that is the lesson that William Berry repeats to himself, and is daily registered in his work.