An Exhibition by Alex Trochut

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION 

Potassi K19 is proud to present Versus, a new iteration of Barcelona-born, San Francisco-based artist and  typographer Alex Trochut’s sculpture series, presented here within a purpose-built immersive installation for the  first time. Five black resin sculptures, each a meditation on love and its shadow states, occupy a blackened corridor  of acoustic material, accompanied by spatial sound and real-time visual environments. 

At the heart of the series is a typographic sleight of hand: each sculpture presents the word LOVE when viewed  from one angle and metamorphoses into HEAL, HARD, DRUG, RARE or GAME from the other. These words are not  opposites but ambiguities: the states into which love transforms, the other faces it turns to show us. Trochut  describes them as “open concepts chosen to connect with the spectator” chosen precisely because love, like  language, is never singular. 

Formally, the sculptures inhabit a space between the possible and the impossible. Their heavily textured surfaces, created with synthetic enamel on polyurethane resin, carry the marks of a making process that feels geological, as  if language had been excavated rather than cast. Their structures teeter with intentional imbalance, alluding to the  tensions and precarious equilibria of human relationships. Each piece measures 26.5 × 32.5 × 26.5 cm; the edition  comprises 10 works in total, two of each title, all of which are available for acquisition. 

At Potassi K19, the sculptures are presented for the first time within a fully immersive built environment: a blackened  corridor of acoustic material that strips away the outside world and places the visitor in direct, isolated encounter  with the work. The installation includes a spatial sound composition by John Talabot and visual environments by  Hamill Industries, created in direct response to Trochut’s sculptures. 

The Versus sculptures were first exhibited as part of Trochut’s solo exhibition It’s Complicated… at Factory of  Dreams, Madrid (October–November 2023). Their presentation at Potassi K19 is their Barcelona premiere, and the  first time they have been shown within a dedicated immersive installation context.

ABOUT ALEX TROCHUT 

Alex Trochut was born in Barcelona in 1981, grandson of the celebrated Catalan typographer Joan Trochut, whose  Super Tipo Veloz modular type system stands as one of the defining contributions to 20th-century Spanish graphic  design. After graduating from Elisava Escola Superior de Disseny, Alex established his studio in Barcelona, later  moving to New York and subsequently to San Francisco, where his practice now extends across design, technology  and emerging visual culture. 

Through his design, illustration and typographic practice, Trochut has developed an approach in which language  functions simultaneously as image: seeing and reading collapse into a single act, and text and image become one  unified expression. For the past three years he has worked within Apple's design team, and is part of the Future  Design Studio at Meta under Alan Dye and Billy Sorrentino.  

His commercial clients include Nike, Adidas, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Jaeger Le-Coultre, Katy Perry,  BBC, Coca-Cola, The New York Times among many others. 

Trochut's work has been internationally recognised, appearing in exhibitions and publications worldwide. He has  been honoured by the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, Creative Review, Cannes Lions, Clio and D&AD. His  monograph More Is More was published in 2011. 

ABOUT POTASSI K19 

Potassi K19 is a contemporary art gallery located in the heart of Barcelona’s Sant Pere district, steps from the Palau  de la Música Catalana. Founded in 2022, the gallery operates at the intersection of visual art, design culture, music  and performance, with a programme that favours artists whose work crosses disciplinary boundaries. Previous  exhibitions have included work by Glen E. Friedman, John Smith (Girl Chewing Gum) and Daniela Carvalho. 

NOTE ON COLLABORATORS 

The immersive installation context for Versus at Potassi K19 has been developed with spatial sound by John Talabot,  Barcelona-born producer and DJ, and visual environments by Hamill Industries, Barcelona-based visual artists duo.  Both collaborators are available for separate press enquiries on request. 

SALES ENQUIRIES 

All works in the exhibition are available for purchase. For pricing and acquisition enquiries, please contact  dkh@azureves.com. 

Previous exhibitions:
- Tick of the Clock, It’s About Time, group show, October/November 2022
- Glen E Friedman, May/June 2022