Gabriel Chaile

Gabriel Chaile

HENI presents an exhibition featuring the debut of new sculptures and works on paper by Gabriel Chaile, an emerging artist from Argentina hailed as one of the most important Argentine artists of his generation.

Chaile's artistic language blends indigenous craftsmanship with social advocacy, fusing the ancient with the contemporary. His work delves deep into his indigenous roots, and he envisions himself embarking on a journey into the ‘genealogy of form’, acting as a visual anthropologist to revive forgotten histories and identities. He aims to shed light on communities and individuals marginalized by oppressive power structures.

The exhibition showcases four sculptures made from ochre clay, a medium deeply rooted in Chaile's homeland of Northern Argentina, and weave together both human and animal elements into pieces reminiscent of spiritual totems. Crafted in Lisbon during the uncertain times of 2020, these sculptures also symbolise hope and illumination. Holding charcoal in their censer-shaped heads, one seeming to inhale light, here in the form of yellow powder, through a brass tube as though part of a shamanistic ritual, each sculpture holds the potential for life-giving and light-bringing fire.

Through his art, Gabriel Chaile reclaims pride in his indigenous heritage, which has endured centuries of erasure by both colonial and postcolonial governments in Argentina. Through these works, Chaile reconfigures a cultural identity that has been defaced over time by reinvesting ancient symbols with new meanings.

Exhibition dates: 24 November 2020 – 21 May 2021
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday, 10am – 6 pm
Location: HENI Gallery, 6-10 Lexington St, London, W1F 0LB
Admission: Free