Didi Rojas
LAUNCH F18 is delighted to present You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie, a solo exhibition by Brooklyn based artist Didi Rojas. The exhibition opens on Saturday, September 7 from 6-9 PM and is on view through October 19, 2019. This marks the first solo exhibition by the artist.
You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie features a curation of over 20 ceramic sculpture shoes, presented in an iconic and sculptural form. Similar to Didi’s previous bodies of work, this exhibition focuses on the delicacy and detail within her sculptures, and reveals a broader cultural context. As we live in a rapidly changing society and fast paced world, Rojas frames these moments to make us pause and comprehend the what can be phenomenal about these various and visually diverse forms. Like her contemporaries such as Jeff Koons,Yayoi Kusama, Andy Warhol and many others;, Rojas strikes at the same chord of design, popular culture and nostalgia while breathing fresh air upon it with profound sincerity. Just as Warhol showed us the Campbell's Soup can, Koons the balloon animal, and Kusama the pumpkin, Rojas brings a connection with the everyday and the significance that these objects have to the human experience. Though they are just shoes, to Rojas they are so much more, representing beauty in the everyday and the sometimes overlooked power of function and design.
Though not all of these objects necessarily reflect the humble, Rojas leaves no limitations or exclusion of cultural styles at large. Ranging from a high heeled shoes to casual sneakers and boots; the installation of these works combine the spectrum of fashion, design and art with what can reflect both attainable and sometimes unobtainable. In the world Rojas creates, a joyful and peaceful presence exists amongst the works and an immunity to barriers or separations. For Rojas, she strikes deep within the symbolism of the shoe and finds a meaning far beyond its material function.
Though each piece is distinctly unique, carrying their own characteristics and spirit with them, they all share a unifying purpose and cultural history. As these works sit idle on the pedestal within the gallery, they are paused, refrained from their constant rhythm, and reflect on the human experience. It reminds us of the connection we have with past, present and future generations. With these connections Rojas creates an individual, as well as sociable body of work, utilizing these creative moments to connect a visual language for all.
Didi Rojas was born in 1993 in Cali, Colombia. She graduated with a BFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Previous group exhibitions include “In Search of Us,” MoMA PopRally, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2017); “Nothing In Isolation,” Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY (2018); “Melted City 4,” Yui Gallery, New York, NY (2018); “The Ashtray Show,” Fisher Parrish Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2018); “Maiden Form,” Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY (2018), “Read? Okay!,” Naughton Gallery at Queens University in Belfast, UK (2018) and “Clay Today,” The Hole, New York, NY (2018). Didi lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
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One of the most delightful discoveries of the fall season in New York was the debut solo exhibition of Columbian ceramicist Didi Rojas at the fantastic shoebox of a space, Launch F18. You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie, featured a selection of around two dozen of Rojas’ quickly-becoming-iconic ceramic reproductions of shoes.
From re-creating the Jacquemus Le Chiquito Bag (including one that’s even tinier than the original!) to sculpting everyone’s favorite Glossier products in clay, Brooklyn-based ceramic artist Didi Rojas is making art out of the most-coveted fashion and beauty items.
Consisting of medium scale sculptures in clay, Didi Roja’s new solo show visually addresses her fascination for footwear. The young artist’s perspective lies on the contemporary functions of shoes that envisage multiple aesthetic and symbolic functions.
You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie features a curation of over 20 ceramic sculpture shoes, presented in an iconic and sculptural form. Similar to Didi’s previous bodies of work, this exhibition focuses on the delicacy and detail within her sculptures, and reveals a broader cultural context.
“You’re doing amazing sweetie!” said notorious momager Kris Jenner to her most famous little dividend, Kim Kardashian, during her daughter’s 2007 photo shoot for Playboy. Kris’s croon serves as the title for Didi Rojas’s first solo show in New York, which features forty-two single shoes (right foot only!) on a low pedestal in the center of the petite gallery.
Featured in their online journal, ABSTRACT Mag includes You're Doing Amazing Sweetie by Didi Rojas. The feature profiles a selection of installation images from the exhibition and takes an indepth look at the over 40 works Rojas made for the exhibition.
Didi Rojas’ boots are not made for walking. Neither are her sneakers, flip flops, or her Balenciaga crocs, which landed office magazine's Issue 08 cover. In fact, all of her LAUNCH F18 gallery solo exhibition creations are strictly ceramic. The Brooklyn based artist’s show titled You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie will be open through October 19 with selections of Rojas' famous footwear sculptures.
It’s hard to not be beguiled by an art show entitled You’re Doing Amazing Sweetie — now on view at LAUNCH F18 F18 until October 19th — and it’s even harder to not fall in love with the whimsical, colorful ceramic shoes created by Didi Rojas for the show.
Colombian-born Pratt graduate Didi Rojas is making her solo debut with a curated collection of over 20 ceramic shoes: heels, flats, sneakers, the works. These zany sculptural confections locate style as both identity and form, nodding at pop progenitors like Koons and Warhol without the slick material distancing.
Shoes fascinate Brooklyn-based ceramic artist Diana Rojas. First using ceramics in college, she soon began to casting her favorite sneakers, heels, and boots using clay, making some life-size and some gigantic.