“Hector Burke” | A Solo Show

Cafeoteca (former Kalú Restaurant) Barrio Escalante, San José, Costa Rica Konstantina Stamatiadis, independent cultural projects director and art dealer, collaborated with Esteban Guardia from Cazadores y Recolectores and Juan Ignacio Salom from former Kalú Restaurant to present a diverse selection of artwork by the artist Hector Burke. Following the recent closure of the former Galería Alternativa and new acquisitions for the Cazadores y Recolectores collection, we extended an invitation to a prominent figure in Costa Rican contemporary art. With extensive experience touring museums and institutional spaces in the country, Burke warmly accepted our invitation to showcase his work in a domestic-commercial space. We had intimate encounters with the artist in “A Coffee with Burke” and a guided tour led by the artist himself.

Cazadores y Recolectores in collaboration with Kiosco SJO present a selection of works by Costa Rican artist Héctor Burke (1955). With the aim of integrating Burke’s production into an alternative, domestic space, we designed this exhibition to appreciate the works by their content and through the variety of techniques that predominate in the artist’s work.

Burke is considered a pioneer of conceptual art in the Costa Rican context. His didactic contribution was manifested in the influence he exerted on the generations of the 90s. Burke’s work finds its raison d’être in an incisive reflective concern about the various dimensions of what happens. This means that the news published in a newspaper, an event in the neighborhood, a forest fire, or a mood, are aspects that – as happens to all of us – trigger a necessary process of assimilation, and for Burke, this need leads to exploratory reflection transferred to a canvas or a piece of found paper. Interestingly, regardless of the date or event, his creations always remain relevant.

The curator, Tamara Díaz, defines him, “with variations of technique, format, and character, Héctor Burke’s works range from ironic to lyrical, and from sensual to expressive. His extensive production combines painting, drawing, engraving, as well as object, collage, or handmade paper. Sometimes, he even seems pleased with the poverty of the materials from which he can derive ample intensity. In Burke’s work, stains and strokes are often accompanied by literary texts, which the artist includes in some corner of his works or barely suggests through the titles. Therefore, Héctor Burke’s artistic production acts as both the means and the end of a systematic investigative practice.