Immediate Response
After finding the piece Toys are US by Gabriel Barredo, made in 2016, I immediately thought of those futuristic cities at night in animations where all the buildings are stacked on top of each other and people walk everywhere. I was then drawn to the human-like figure in the middle of the piece with its arms outstretched. It reminds me of the crucifixion of Jesus because of how the hands appear to be nailed down at the palm. There also looks to be eyes scattered around the piece. From smaller ones that seemed to be randomly placed, to the bigger ones that seem more intentional in their placement and take the shape of an eye behind eyelids (almond like in shape). They seem more intentional because of how they are the only eyes that are shaped like that and they are all in the middle of the piece.
Objective Description
The piece is composed of miscellaneous toys and other inanimate objects that a child might play with. The piece is very geometric and symmetrical in its overall composition. It is mostly brown, green, yellow, and black in color with fewer and smaller bright red pieces placed in the piece. There are a lot of rectangles, ovals, and circles that make up the piece. There are stick parts of the pieces that are used to sort of add separation. The two parts that stick out the most are a human-like sculpture in the lower middle part of the piece that has its arms outstretched to the side and has an eye shaped piece as the head. In addition, there is an eye shaped part at the top of the piece that has beams coming out of it that looks like sun rays.
Technical Description
This piece hangs on a wall displayed in a gallery. This piece has a lot of different parts that cause the viewer’s eyes to move across the piece and discover new parts of the work. There are a lot of hidden objects in the piece like doll heads, clocks, mini eyeballs, etc. A lot of the framework of the piece is made out of metal and uses a lot of lines and patterns. A lot of shapes are used to make this piece, specifically rectangles and circles. The pieces seemed to be either welded or glued together and lights were fixed evenly around the piece. They surround the human-like figure in the middle.
The Work in the World
For me, I’ve always enjoyed taking old toys or random objects I find and making sculptures out of them, which is why I think I was drawn to this artist and this specific piece in the first place. Barredo does a good job at taking objects and materials from around him and constructing them in a way where each part gets lost in the overall piece. All the pieces come together to make one story. Barredo’s work also reminds me of Leo Sewell who I did a study on in high school. Sewell took scraps and would make animal sculptures out of them.
The Story it Tells
Barredo said that his work is meant to create entire opuses. This piece in particular is object-led and accompanied by light and a sense of symmetry. The title in relation to the piece causes me to interpret this work as a representation of childhood, with all of the good and bad, and the pivotal moments we face in those integral parts of life. I interpret this piece in this way because of the toys scattered throughout his work. The use of toys reminds me of youth and being a child. The structure of the piece and how angular it is reminds me of how life is structured the growth of a person. The human-like figure in the center reminds me of growing up with christianity and growing up with spirituality.