Where: Ro2 Art Gallery, 2606 Bataan St., Dallas, TX 75212
When: November 2, 2024 – December 7, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION: November 2, 2024 from 7-10pm
(Dallas) Ro2 Art proudly presents Size Matters – The Golden Rule, a striking exhibition by Fort Worth-based artist Bernardo Vallarino. Renowned for his mixed-media sculptures and installations, Vallarino’s practice delves into the unsettling intersections of violence, power, and human suffering. Through meticulously crafted objects, he challenges viewers to confront the hypocrisy inherent in society’s values versus its actions. This exhibition, opening on November 2, 2024, features a large-scale installation and multidisciplinary works that explore firearms and their cultural significance through the lens of fetishism. Vallarino employs the term “fetish” in both its historical sense — as objects believed to possess magical or protective powers — and its contemporary association with sexual fixation. His use of luxurious materials like black leather, gold leaf, and black flocking, juxtaposed with starkly symbolic imagery such as firearms, bullets, and ants, brings forth an arresting dialogue on societal obsession with objects designed to end life.
In Size Matters – The Golden Rule, Vallarino’s practice is not merely an exercise in form but an act of moral provocation. He intricately combines gun embellishments and tattoo-like scroll patterns, along with visual references to insects, to challenge our perceptions of protection and power. In particular, the presence of ants in his work serves as a metaphorical middle ground, representing both destruction and unity, cooperation, and decay. By incorporating insects, he draws parallels between how humans mistreat each other and the perceived expendability of smaller creatures. Vallarino’s work navigates these complex issues, encouraging reflection on how society reconciles its fascination with weapons with both secular and religious moral standards. This exhibition continues his ongoing exploration of the disconnect between the rhetoric of human life and the behaviors of humanity, prompting viewers to examine the consequences of power dynamics on a global scale. Size Matters – The Golden Rule will be on view through December 7, 2024, at Ro2 Art Gallery, with an opening reception on November 2 from 7 to 10 PM.