{"id":7038,"date":"2025-08-26T21:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/news-itp-alum-and-visual-artist-ernesto-rios-presents-solo-exhibition\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T21:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T21:00:15","slug":"news-itp-alum-and-visual-artist-ernesto-rios-presents-solo-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/news-itp-alum-and-visual-artist-ernesto-rios-presents-solo-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"ITP Alum and Visual Artist Ernesto R\u00edos Presents Solo Exhibition at CEART San Luis Potos\u00ed, Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potos\u00ed | Central Gallery<\/p>\n

Exhibition Dates: 3 July \u2013 10 August 2025<\/p>\n

By Angela P\u00e9rez<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"C\u00d3DIGOS.<\/p>\n
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C\u00d3DIGOS. Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potos\u00ed, Mexico. Central Gallery<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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ITP Alumni and acclaimed Mexican artist, Ernesto R\u00edos<\/b> has opened his 28th solo exhibition, C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i>, at the Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potos\u00ed (CEART).<\/p>\n

Recognized as one of the foremost artists of his generation, the acclaimed multidisciplinary artist opened the exhibition on 3 July, showing till 10 August. The exhibition offers a sensory and conceptual journey through large-scale paintings and high-fired ceramics, inviting viewers to reflect on the intersections between biological systems and digital languages. Visitors enter a living architecture of symbols, algorithms, and rhythms\u2014a space where the invisible is made tangible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Untitled.<\/p>\n
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Untitled. Technique: High-fire ceramics <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Origin of C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The origins of this exhibition however reaches back to Ernesto R\u00edos\u2019s earliest encounters with programming. Titling the exhibition C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i>, \u2018<\/i>code\u2019 in Spanish, the conceptual idea emerged from when he first learnt basic coding in elementary school using the \u2018logo\u2019 program, developed by Wally Feurzeig, Seymour Papert, and Cynthia Solomon, where a cursor was represented by a turtle. Years later, during his graduate studies at New York University\u2019s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he encountered programming and digital tools that hugely expanded his creative vocabulary and artistic possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I entered this universe of coding and programming, it felt as though a vast realm of creative possibility had opened up.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n

At ITP, R\u00edos developed interactive artworks integrating sensors, movement, and sound \u2014 experiments that were both two-dimensional and deeply immersive on a sensory level. These pieces invited viewers to experience space and time through direct, tactile engagement using organic materials and found objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this period, I was interested in making the intangible tangible through the interconnection of art, science, and technology.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n

This phase marked a turning point, forging a deep interest in the exchange between technology, human perception, and symbolic language. This interest continues to shape his artistic inquiry today.<\/p>\n

Visualizing the Unseen: Systems, Patterns, Dynamism<\/b><\/p>\n

C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i>, the exhibition builds on this trajectory, merging organic forms with digital structures. Using binary sequences, genetic motifs, and algorithmic geometries, these images emerge in a restrained palette of white, black, and metallics developing an aesthetic R\u00edos uses to explore dualities and tonal nuance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Title:<\/p>\n
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Title: \u6b66\u6c49 Code \/ Wuhan Code Ernesto Rios. Mixed media on canvas, 200 x 200 cm. 2021-2025.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy interest lies in only working with a limited palette. Creating monochromatic works to explore complementary opposites in tension: light and shadow, micro and macro, night and day, order and chaos, and examining the infinite tones in between.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Detail:<\/p>\n
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Detail: \u6b66\u6c49 Code \/ Wuhan Code, Ernesto Rios. Mixed media on canvas, 200 x 200 cm. 2021-2025.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Paintings that pulse with rhythmic grids and fractal geometries grow tension. Ceramics, created using Raku, a traditional Japanese low-temperature firing technique bear crackled glazes, charred textures, and smoky surfaces. Known for its unpredictability, Raku emphasizes imperfection, spontaneity, and transformation through fire. These tactile, elemental works evoke ancestral processes even as they engage with themes of data and digitization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI focus on an artisanal intelligence that begins with the hands and a reliance on the four elements \u2014 earth, fire, water and air \u2014 and perhaps a fifth: intuition. This enables for the inclusion of sensitivity and spirit.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Title:<\/p>\n
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Title: V Code Ernesto Rios. Mixed media on canvas, 200 x 200 cm. 2021-2025.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Installation as Metaphor: Geometry in Motion<\/b><\/p>\n

R\u00edos\u2019s spatial design echoes the spiral architecture of DNA. Paintings float, suspended on steel cables, guiding viewers along a circular path. This choreography transforms the gallery into a navigable system of signs and sequences, one to be experienced as much as seen. The installation becomes both a visual metaphor and a cognitive map.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"C\u00d3DIGOS.<\/p>\n
\n

C\u00d3DIGOS. Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potos\u00ed, Mexico. Central Gallery. <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Poetics of Opposites: Taoism and Visual Rhythm<\/b><\/p>\n

C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i> the exhibition however draws on Taoist philosophy, especially the principle of yin and yang, viewing opposites not as contradictions but as complementary forces in constant tension. R\u00edos\u2019s work embodies this dialectic by exploring pairs such as light and shadow, control and chaos, micro and macro. Rather than seeking to resolve these tensions, the art delves into their generative potential, revealing the invisible underlying structures\u2014vibrations, sequences, and repetitions\u2014that connect and balance these opposing yet interdependent forces.<\/p>\n

From Artificial to Artistic Intelligence<\/b><\/p>\n

In an era dominated by artificial intelligence, C\u00d3DIGOS reclaims a slower, more tactile way of knowing, one rooted in material practice and intuitive process.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy current work is focused more on developing an artistic intelligence\u2014one intensely connected to the mind, the body, and perhaps even the spirit, in a metaphorical sense.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n

This philosophy resonates throughout the exhibition. Each brushstroke and ceramic fracture carries the weight of labor, intention, and memory\u2014forming a quiet but insistent counterpoint to the logic of automation. Rather than artificial intelligence, R\u00edos evokes a different kind of cognition: embodied, intuitive, and rooted in material experience. It is a way of knowing, shaped not by algorithms but by the hand. The works denote skill and craft, gained by repetition and presence.<\/p>\n

Encoded Life: Between Geometry and Memory<\/b><\/p>\n

Curator Gabriela Gorab comments:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe works gathered in C\u00d3DIGOS<\/i> emerge from a research process where science, art, geometry, introspection, and memory intertwine as potential codes of life and evolution. In each piece, R\u00edos constructs visual tapestries that evoke sequences, algorithms, spores, fractals, vibrations, and organic structures. Everything feels encoded: patterns, shapes, and pulses that invite us to consider life beyond biology\u2014as a network of flows, rhythms, and resonances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gabriela Gorab, curator<\/p>\n

Some works incorporate natural pigments and eco-conscious materials. Others draw on R\u00edos\u2019s personal history\u2014textures and forms nurtured by lived experience.<\/p>\n

Zoonosis: Viral Codes and Ecological Collapse<\/b><\/p>\n

ZOONOSIS is a video installation that explores the transference of infectious diseases from animals to humans\u2014a phenomena intensified by global interconnectivity and ecological disruption. This project arises from an interdisciplinary research process that merges art, science, and technology, producing a visual and sonic experience that reflects on the complexity of our increasingly digital, and biologically fragile era.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Zoonosis.<\/p>\n
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Zoonosis. Video installation. 2021. Ernesto Rios. <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Zoonosis: Viral Codes and Ecological Collapse<\/b><\/p>\n

ZOONOSIS<\/i> is a video installation that examines the transmission of infectious diseases from animals to humans, intensified by ecological disruption and global interconnectivity. Emerging from a transdisciplinary research process, the work merges art, science, and technology to create a poetic visual and sonic experience of our biologically fragile and digitally saturated era.<\/p>\n

Layered screens display interwoven images\u2014nanotechnology, circuits, vaccines, and decaying ecosystems\u2014forming visual codes sourced from scientific archives and speculative media. The immersive soundscape, composed with microbiologist and sound artist Jacques Soddell, fuses electronic textures with environmental echoes, generating a "viral poetics" of noise, data, and organic resonance.<\/p>\n

\u201cZoonosis is both a biological and a symbolic threshold\u2026 a way to understand contemporary life itself.\u201d
\n\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/i><\/p>\n

Presented in the former panopticon prison now housing the Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potos\u00ed, the installation reflects on surveillance, perception, and the invisible systems that shape society today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that because we don\u2019t see these codes\u2014because they are invisible\u2014we don\u2019t realize how society itself is being programmed.\u201d
\n\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/i><\/p>\n

Building Transdisciplinary Practice<\/b><\/p>\n

Ernesto R\u00edos holds a Master\u2019s degree with honors from NYU\u2019s Tisch School of the Arts (ITP) and a Ph.D. in Visual Arts from RMIT University in Australia, where he developed the institution\u2019s first interactive thesis. He currently teaches classes and research seminars at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Universidad Aut\u00f3noma del Estado de Morelos, covering undergraduate, master\u2019s, and doctoral programs in architecture, art, photography, and design with a transdisciplinary perspective.<\/p>\n

His work has been exhibited in over 25 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. As a visual artist and co-photographic author, he has contributed to more than 20 books and participated in over 70 group exhibitions and 28 solo shows. His photographic series Archivos Compartidos Tres R\u00edos<\/i> has been recognized by UNESCO\u2019s Memory of the World program for its cultural and documentary significance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"Ernesto<\/p>\n
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Ernesto Rios at his studio in Mexico.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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C\u00d3DIGOS<\/b><\/p>\n

C\u00d3DIGOS is more than a series of artworks\u2014it\u2019s a living system. Through vibrant shapes and forms, R\u00edos invites viewers to explore the connections between matter, digital codes, memory, and change.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI aim to create a sensory and intellectual experience that not only engages the senses but also encourages fresh inquiries into the complex relationship between the organic and the digital.<\/i><\/p>\n

Through this exploration, I hope to inspire critical interpretations that deepen our understanding of today\u2019s intricate reality and spark creativity that leads to positive change in how we perceive and interact with both natural and technological worlds.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ernesto R\u00edos<\/p>\n

For more information visit:<\/p>\n

Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/______ernesto_rios\/<\/a>
\nFacebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ernestoriosart\/<\/a>
\nWebsite: https:\/\/www.ernestorios.net<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ITP Alumni and acclaimed Mexican artist, Ernesto R\u00edos has opened his 28th solo exhibition, C\u00d3DIGOS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/itp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}