MADRID.- Marlborough Madrid presents a project developed in different spatial modules and whose axis gravitates around the role played by color in the works of nine international artists.

Although these works are diverse in content and structure, each one uses color to claim its space through its “vivacity”, an expression used by Goethe to refer to the fact that refined people avoided bright colors in their clothes and objects and seemed inclined to banish them altogether. He went so far as to assert that only savage nations, uneducated people, and children retain a taste for vivid colors. Walter Benjamin also wrote about the child’s relationship to color by differentiating their perception of color from that of the adult: he even suggested that the latter understood color as a layer superimposed on matter, to such an extent that they regarded it as a deceptive cloak. Perhaps this deception could be linked to the names of synthetic colors that create a phantasmagorical and ethereal aura, making it difficult to imagine a color by its name alone.

Far from being misleading, the vivacity of the colors of the works in this exhibition is symptomatic of the fact that calor [heat] and color, following the free etymological relationship of Isidore of Seville, are fundamentally composed of the same matter.

To equate calor with color moves us away from a retinal approach and brings us closer to a bodily activity common to spaces of fantastic vivacity in which color is presented in a lively manner. Defending such a sense of color does not mean to state categorically that color is this or that. In order to avoid something as common in color theory as the tendency to relate shades of color to everyday objects or materials, thus blurring their true chromatic singularity, we have chosen to favor abstraction in the selection of the works. The aim is to examine the postulates of the artists present in this exhibition in relation to color, rather than favoring figuration.

The first selection of works will establish a conversation within the field of Op- art between BridgetRiley (UK, 1931) and the scientist and artist AdrienLucca (France, 1983). The latter specializes in the study of color with works that play with the spectrum of light to produce visual effects. His practice seeks to challenge the idea that vision is synonymous with knowledge: his works explore the limits of visual perception. Riley’s perspective, on the other hand, makes use of flat colors that play with allusions to a new landscape. The artist challenges the viewer in subtle and provocative visual experiments through optical calculation and regularities of line and color combinations. Although they belong to different generations, the plastic exercises of both artists converge in their willingness to serve scientific studies.

A second space presents a solo exhibition of the graphic work of Anish Kapoor (India, 1954) which explores in a chromatic way a mystical mood, a ceremonial and ritualistic impulse. Through his works we will try to take in his specific use of color by means of opposites to create shadows.

In addition to these proposals, there is a group exhibition with graphic works by Herbert Bayer (Austria, 1900 - United States, 1985), Piero Dorazio (Italy, 1927 -
2005), BeverlyB PepBper (United States, 1922 - India, 2020) and Jesús Rafael Soto (Venezuela, 1923 - France, 2005) from a specific period: 1966 to 1975. These years represent the true creative ferment around color: one of the main events was the arrival of color in television in the mid-sixties. In the artistic sphere, marked by Clement Greenberg’s defense of the reflexive flatness of color field painting, which eventually led artists to dematerialize the object, many movements and styles with color as a central impulse gained strength: pop art, optical art and minimalism are good examples.

Finally, a dialogue will be presented between the sculptors Lucas Simões (Brazil, 1980) and Blanca Muñoz (Spain, 1963), with pieces in which color is manifested through electrolysis, an electrochemical process that changes the color of metals. The Spanish sculptor works with metal and achieves iridescent results; the Brazilian, trained in architecture and urbanism, imagines forms that allow him to explore the material. Two generations united in the use of electricity as a means of tracing the change of color and its evocations.

Marlborough Madrid
calor COLOR
November 25th, 2023 - January 27th, 2024