Since his graduation from the SF Art Institute in 2002, Caleb Duarte has chosen mixed media installations as his art form. The themes of architecture, shelter and/or home have been central to his work. His travels around the world are often his inspiration for exploring the social inequalities and the realities of globalization. “It is evident from his work that Duarte has a political bent and regards his work as an activist practice of sorts”, (Leah Ollman, Los Angeles Times, 2004). Duarte’s most recent trip to Brazil inspired him to combine materials and techniques that involve natural as well as Home Depot disposable materials. But his focus has recently shifted from the notion of shelter to the symbolism of social protection and the truth contained inside these “architectural sanctuaries.” For a number of years, the buildings that house museums, skyscrapers, and churches have become as important as the institutions themselves. Architects vacillate between modesty and grandeur. Buildings are described as “hypnotic urban objects. And so Duarte searches for the truth and the balance between the message and the messenger. He explores the ideas of faith and truth as a form for our evolutionary survival. Is a church built with wood and sticks as powerful in delivering its message as the Vatican in Rome? By replacing high-tech materials with mud, cement and wood, Duarte reveals the fragility of preserving whatever we perceive to be true. Partial walls and unfinished structures stand like vestiges of our evolution, like the columns of the Parthenon. This site specific installation at LIMN Gallery is the natural progression of Caleb Duarte’s personal journey through a world of expectations, deceptions, and hope.
Caleb Duarte was born in 1977 and migrated from Mexico to the Central Valley in California. His work has been featured on Spark, KQED, Art ltd., and The Los Angeles Times. Duarte works and lives in Oakland, CA and is currently finishing his MFA at the Chicago Art Institute.