Jorge Méndez Blake is a mixed-media, conceptual artist from Guadalajara, Mexico, whose work revolves around books, libraries and literature. An architect by profession, Méndez Blake has evolved a conceptual language, both reductive and metaphorical, that translates literary texts into images, sculptures and installations. Based on his belief that “writing is itself a kind of construction and reading is a way of creation”, he transforms the literary into the spatial thereby giving a physical dimension to the act of reading. His work focuses on the themes classic authors pose through their books, as well as the value of literature as a means of communication and a depository of knowledge; quite fittingly, Mendez Blake produces and catalogues his work in a series of conceptual chapters, each focusing on a different theme, author or approach.

With an architectural background and a life-long of love of books—he was an editor at his university’s literature magazine— it’s no wonder that the fusion of architecture and literature, the “two strongest manifestations of culture” as Méndez Blake says, is such a major preoccupation for him. An exemplary case is “Chapter VI - The Castle” (2007), a 22m long brick wall constructed by stacking bricks one on top of the another without mortar, in the middle of which, crushed underneath, is an edition of Franz Kafka’s The Castle. The book’s theme, the impossibility of its central character ever reaching the eponymous Castle, is thus re-imagined as the impossibility of ever physically reaching the book while the same time, this physical metaphor of the book’s plot spatially unfolds the book’s narration.

The Castle
2007
Bricks, edition of Franz Kafka’s 'The Castle' (detail)
2300 x 1750 x 400 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

The Castle

2007

Bricks, edition of Franz Kafka’s 'The Castle' (detail)

2300 x 1750 x 400 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Ceboruco Volcano. Structure II
2012 
Concrete blocks and coloured pencil
Dimensions variable
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Ceboruco Volcano. Structure II

2012 

Concrete blocks and coloured pencil

Dimensions variable

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Taking the concept of literary architecture one step further, “Chapter XXIV – Monuments (2012)” pays homage to some of the greatest writers from the past two centuries by creating physical edifices inspired by both their lives and their texts. The Camus Monument, a copy of Camus’ L’étranger under a tower of bricks reflected by a mirrored table-top, is a sculptural metaphor of the book’s narrator who can see nothing beyond his own self and who is thus crushed by society, whereas the Emily Dickinson Monument, an all-white replica of her house in Amherst, Pennsylvania with a missing façade revealing a hollowed-out, red interior, alludes to the poet’s extremely introverted life. The minimalist appearance of these works belies a complex conceptual process by which the artists distils the authors’ ideas and idiosyncrasies into his art.

Left:
Chamber Music (James Joyce). White
2014
Aluminum tubes,electrostatic painting.
36 pieces
Variable heights: 80.8 – 294.7 cm x 1.50 – 2.54 cm
Right:
Chamber Music (James Joyce). Black 
2014
Aluminum tubes,electrostatic paint.
36 pieces
Variable heights: 80.8 – 294.7 cm x 1.50 – 2.54 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Left:

Chamber Music (James Joyce). White

2014

Aluminum tubes,electrostatic painting.

36 pieces

Variable heights: 80.8 – 294.7 cm x 1.50 – 2.54 cm

Right:

Chamber Music (James Joyce). Black 

2014

Aluminum tubes,electrostatic paint.

36 pieces

Variable heights: 80.8 – 294.7 cm x 1.50 – 2.54 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

The Mountain that Took the Place of a Poem ( For Emily)
2016
Metal, marble
150 x 250 x 250 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

The Mountain that Took the Place of a Poem ( For Emily)

2016

Metal, marble

150 x 250 x 250 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

The visualisation of poetry is another area of great interest for Méndez Blake who has tackled it from several angles. In “Chapter XXV – Poems” (2013) he has created monochromatic wall paintings based on the works of Hart Crane, Paul Valéry, and José Goristiza by translating their poems’ lines into solid jagged strips, literally blocking out their meaning and thus imbuing them with a new, pictorial dimension. In a more sculptural approach, “Chamber Music (James Joyce)” from “Chapter XXXII - Measuring Poetry” (2014) consists of 36 iron tubes of varying lengths leaning against the gallery wall; representing the 36 poems in Joyce’s collection, each tube has the length of a poem if its words were placed next to each other in a line. For his latest body or work, “Chapter XXXV – Ventana Poniente” (2016), the artist has collected all the dashes in all six volumes of Dickinson’s poems and transferred them on 10-foot tall linen canvases using cut-outs and acrylic paint. The dashes, signifying a pause between the lines, a moment of reflection or uncertainty, visualised in such a grand manner convey the poet’s emotional turmoil that lay behind the poems’ creation.

Untitled
2015
Wood, oil lamp
45 x 20 x 20 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Untitled

2015

Wood, oil lamp

45 x 20 x 20 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

It Was a Pleasure to Burn X
2015
Coloured pencil on paper
150 x 120 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

It Was a Pleasure to Burn X

2015

Coloured pencil on paper

150 x 120 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

Empty Bookshelf II
2011
Coloured pencil on paper
150 x 120 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

Empty Bookshelf II

2011

Coloured pencil on paper

150 x 120 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

Project for University City Central Library Addition II (detail)
2009
Pencil, coloured pencil, paper
100 x 70 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Project for University City Central Library Addition II (detail)

2009

Pencil, coloured pencil, paper

100 x 70 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Left:
Project for New York Central Library Addition
2009
Pencil, coloured pencil, paper
100 x 70 cm
Right:
Project for Seattle Central Library Addition
2009
Pencil, coloured pencil, paper
100 x 70 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Left:

Project for New York Central Library Addition

2009

Pencil, coloured pencil, paper

100 x 70 cm

Right:

Project for Seattle Central Library Addition

2009

Pencil, coloured pencil, paper

100 x 70 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Du fond d’un naufrage 
2011
Bricks, edition of 'Poésies et autres textes' by Stéphane Mallarmé
161 x 120 x 106 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Du fond d’un naufrage 

2011

Bricks, edition of 'Poésies et autres textes' by Stéphane Mallarmé

161 x 120 x 106 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Dedicatorias
2015
Fine art print
Polyptych of 8 pieces of 100 x 80 each
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Dedicatorias

2015

Fine art print

Polyptych of 8 pieces of 100 x 80 each

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Left:
Projects for Romeo and Juliet Library
2009
Right:
Study for a Library About Love 
2009
Paint on wall
Dimensions variable
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Left:

Projects for Romeo and Juliet Library

2009

Right:

Study for a Library About Love 

2009

Paint on wall

Dimensions variable

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Left:
Werther Bookshelf
2009
Stainless steel, books
14 books
200 x 145 x 30 cm
Right:
El amor en los tiempos del cólera
2009
Stainless steel, books
31 books
200 x 145 x 30 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

Left:

Werther Bookshelf

2009

Stainless steel, books

14 books

200 x 145 x 30 cm

Right:

El amor en los tiempos del cólera

2009

Stainless steel, books

31 books

200 x 145 x 30 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.

Dearest Max, My Last Request
2015
Neon
8 x 185.5 cm
Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake. 

Dearest Max, My Last Request

2015

Neon

8 x 185.5 cm

Photo © Jorge Méndez Blake.
 

Seeing Poetry: Mexican Artist Jorge Méndez Blake Transforms Literature into Sculpture and Visual Art

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