In these most recent works, Rocha also draws aesthetic inspiration from Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, and Abraham Cruzvillegas-artists who approached making art by using intuition and accepting mistakes as part of their work. Rocha applies the same sensibility in his often precarious and multilayered compositions of stacked, grouped or balanced discarded or castoff objects.

The resulting works reflect not only the culture from which these objects permeate but deliver a commentary on the complexities of human connection and the resilience of the human spirit. Author and curator Susie Kalil states, “With their blunt-force assertions, their challenging irony, their earthy sexuality and their embrace of life as a big, messy possibility, his sculptures and assemblages are both serious and accessible, connecting us to our own feelings of having to endure an often absurd, unfair world.”

As Rocha continues his interpretations of border culture, he often engages the use of language. Fascinated with the border’s “vibrant dialogue and cross-pollinated vocabulary (Tex-Mex, Pocho, Spanglish)”, Rocha often teases the viewer with word-play, utilizing homonyms and rhymes. These elements lend a playfulness to the works but also establish a personal language that is reinforced by familiar objects that make up the works. Together, Rocha uses these elements to investigate ideas about individual and collective identity, ambition, perseverance, unity, and community.

Gil Rocha received his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His works have been presented nationwide including notable exhibitions with the El Paso Museum of Art, Museo de Art de Ciudad Juarez and Museu del Barrio, New York. This exhibition marks Rocha’s first with Gerald Peters Contemporary.