Alexis de Chaunac produces rich, multilayered works laden with cultural references. His practice has included the use of silkscreens, digital prints and collage in dialogue with the Surrealists and Neo-Dada artists. Collage has allowed him to tell several stories at the same time and to render his own lived experiences through an expansive archive of materials combining his personal memories with the collective human experience. He scratches the surface, digging a past history, an archaeology of some sort where the image underneath is revealed. His work not only looks towards the past but also towards the future, creating a space where viewers can feel more present with their own body in relation to the world.
Through an effort of refinement in his practice, he started to use imageries of ex-votos. During centuries when medicine was uncertain, the use of ex-votos was almost universal to cure injury, disease and pain. In Mexico, they were charm-like metal objects, also called Milagros, votive sculptural images of body parts, isolated limbs and organs. A detached foot then becomes an offering, from the latin ex meaning “from”, and votum meaning “vow.” In a way, the body is made whole through its fragmentation and a separate eye or lung becomes a communal object. Through these works, he expresses that body parts have potential healing powers. They also look like an alphabet, a secret language in the process of creation.
De Chaunac was born in New York in 1991 and was raised in Mexico City among artists, writers and poets. He earned an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2022) and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College (2014). He is a recipient of the Fundación Jumex grant and the Dedalus Foundation Fellowship. He currently lives and works in Chicago, IL. Alexis has exhibited his work nationally and internationally at galleries and museums including Sargent’s Daughters in New York (2019), Carrillo Gil Art Museum in Mexico City (2017), and Silas von Morisse Gallery in Brooklyn, NY (2015). His work has been featured and reviewed in the press, including in Whitewall Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, and Artsy Editorial.
