The work of Jose Dávila is the result, on one hand, of taking the resistance of both form and material to its limit, and on the other, of the appropriation and re-contextualization of poignant works of art throughout history, defining them within a local and contemporary context. Dávila’s work shows apparently opposed materials where forces and forms are balanced to achieve a harmonious whole that transforms his creations into representations of our doubts and own contradictions.

His work is a visual and material aporia, an insoluble logical paradox, where we discover a coexistence of fragility and resistance, calm and tension, geometry and chaos. His multidisciplinary work often departs from the creation of a visual glossary where all variations are the result of a basic idea; in their arrangement, these basic forms become a language for the totality of the work. Each of the pieces evolve naturally within the specific conditions and characteristics of their format and material.

His sculptures are a reflection of the phenomenon of gravity, the laws of static and dynamic energy, the tractive force used to generate motion and the compression strength, the potential for deformation prior to the rupture of materials, and, above all, of structural intuitions. The assembly of delicately balanced materials highlight the human intervention that transforms the space and re-signifies the object. The structures created by Dávila work within their own logic in the search for the exogenous centre of gravity and in the limits of the resistance of the materials, where the form is a consequence of the process.

Jose Dávila studied architecture in the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Guadalajara, Mexico, however, he considers himself a self-taught artist, with an intuitive formation.

His work is part of the Getty’s PST LA/LA triennial in Los Angeles and has been exhibited in Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, DE; Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, USA, Savannah College of Art and Design; Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag; Museum Voorlinden, AG Wassenaar, Nederland, Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo MUAC, Mexico City; Caixa Forum, Madrid; MoMA PS1, New York; Kunstwerke, Berlin; San Diego Museum of Art; Museo de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; MAK, Vienna, Fundación/ Colección JUMEX, Mexico City; Bass Museum of Art, Miami; Museu do Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo; The Moore Space, Miami; NICC, Antwerp, among others; and has been featured in international publications such as Cream 3, ed. Phaidon, 100 Latin-American Artists, ed. Exit and The Feather and The Elephant, ed. Hatje Cantz. Dávila has received support from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Kunstwerke in Berlin and the Sistema Nacional de Creadores del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, México. Jose Dávila is a founding member of the Oficina para Proyectos de Arte (OPA), in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jose Dávila was awarded with the Baltic Artists’ Award in 2017 along with artists Eric N. Mack, Toni Schmale and Shen Xin; his public art Project Sense of Place is currently on view scattered in different locations of Los Angeles, as part of the program PST:LA/LA of the Getty Foundation.