Alejandro Drexler received a bachelor’s in industrial engineering and a master’s in economics from Universidad de Chile, a PhD in finance from MIT, and a diploma in medium format photography from the Centre D’Imatge in Barcelona. He has been making art since 1999.
In the art world, a background that combines finance and art is uncommon. Despite that, in Drexler’s work there is the search for a balance—like a mathematical equation—between the geometry of a city and the use of digital colors. As a result, his urban digital cityscapes are happy and vibrant, with an approach that resembles pop art infused with real life. By using contrasting bright tones, audiences can recognize urban geographies they might relate to as well as remind them of strong memories and emotions inscribed in the city where they live.
Alejandro Drexler has displayed his work in multiple exhibitions. Among others, two solo exhibitions at Ludico Art Gallery in Santiago de Chile, three group exhibitions at El Mercurio newspaper headquarters in Santiago de Chile, and most recently a solo exhibition at the Glenview Public Library in the Chicago area. He has also participated in group exhibitions at the Millennium Art Festival, the Glenview and Wilmette art shows, and the Glenview Art League Summer Festival. He has a forthcoming solo exhibition at the Universidad Nacional de Mexico (UNAM) branch in Chicago and his first artist book, Digital City Landscapes, is coming up soon.
There is this concept I use in my practice, which I call “the soul of cities.” In simple words, the “soul of the city” is what makes one city look different from the other. This is something most of the time hard to describe in words, and so art offers a template for exploring this. Based on that, my art grapples with this “soul” through digital cityscapes full of bold and vivid colors that symbolize liveliness, as opposed to the grey tones that most people associate to, for example, a plain building depicted as a still-life.
To create these digital cityscapes, I start by taking a photography. This is an image that I use solely to outline the city. This outline is later filled with bright flat colors, giving it a unique look that resembles a vignette from a comic book. I try to keep the viewer away from what one can see through the window of a car; instead, my use of color aims to captures life in a simpler way that makes audiences reconsider their relationship to cities and what makes them unique.
My passion for architecture started after visiting some of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in Chicago. What surprises me of Wright is the balance and harmony in the geometry of his creations. In his work everything belongs together, like for example in the Robie house in Chicago. In my cityscapes I try to capture a similar balance and harmony by finding that image that feels as if nothing is out of place. My other influence is Andy Warhol, an artist that nowadays maybe is taken for granted. What makes Warhol’s art so attractive to me is the way he alters people perception of iconic figures by using flat and usually primary colors. I try to achieve similar results by changing cities’ real colors with colors that better capture each city’s idiosyncrasy. Or their souls.
Chicago is not only the city where I live, but it is also my favorite city in the world. What is special about Chicago is that despite having culture and vibrance it also possesses a slower pace. This dichotomy allows its residents the time to enjoy the simple things in life like sitting in a park or enjoying a walk downtown. In the future I want to explore other iconic US cities like NYC, L.A. and Miami. These cities, like Chicago, have a unique and distinguishable identity--the “soul” that my work and artistic vision thrives to explore and portrait.