ART PARIS 2022
Our gallery is not specialized in geometrical abstraction. However, Julián Gil (Logroño, 1939), is one of the most veteran painters we work with. In recent years, we have been fortunate to know his work better thanks to several visits to his studio for the preparation of his latest projects with us presented at ARTBO Bogotá 2019 art fair and also at ESTAMPA Madrid 2021’s last edition that took place on past October.
Julián Gil’s work, one of the most prominent exponents of geometric abstraction in Spain, has mathematics and color theory as fundamental pillars. The combination of both results in multiple series of canvases of different sizes. In some of his works, especially between the years 1990-2000, as a result of the different variations on the same formula, he sometimes obtained the predominance of one color on the surface of the canvas, getting a more monochrome appearance.
In recent years, thanks to the link established with Nueveochenta gallery in Colombia, we have also discovered the work of Beatriz Olano (Medellín, 1965), of an extraordinary vital impulse. Color and geometry are also the elements with which she composes her works, but this time they are applied in a much more intuitive way. She also works on canvas, painting large areas of the same color, and becoming more detailed as she approaches the edges of the painting.
The third party of the booth is Regine Schumann (Goslar, 1961), influenced from the beginning of her career by artists of the color-field movement, composes her works around the perception of color according to the different lighting conditions to which they are exposed. She uses acrylic glass as a material, creating right angle plates of different sizes and colors.
Between these three artists of different generations, with a very different approach in their works, a connection arises, or at least a concern is born, that leads us to experiment what would be the result of combining their works in the same space.
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The painter Julián Gil (Logroño, 1936), still active, is considered one of the main Spanish exponents of concrete art. His canvases are completely removed from any representation of nature, they are not even conceived as the materialization of an imagined image, but rather are built based on the use of mathematics and colour theory. Here we present part of one of his series of Folds, made in 1971, which were the result of that effort to break with the teachings and academic approaches of the representation of nature. However, this artist's first contact with flat and three-dimensional structures occurred some time ago, and spontaneously, thanks to the "folding games", folding subway and bus tickets and other small pieces of paper. This process was the key that facilitated the abandonment of the copy or interpretation of reality and marked the beginning of a new geometric/concrete creation.
Regine Schumann (Goslar, 1961) focuses on the effects of light and colour caused by different fluorescent materials. Undoubtedly the most frequent material in her work is acrylic glass in panels of different colours, with which she creates different compositions in spaces, based on Goethe's colour theory. These panels are manufactured with fluorescent pigments of different colours that react to the external lighting they receive. The stronger the natural light, the more the colour and light effects are enhanced. As a complement, she also uses black or ultraviolet light to apply new colour variations to her works, or intensify their brightness.
On the other hand, the work of Beatriz Olano (Medellín, 1965) is characterized by the use of geometry, colour and lines, as well as by the important relationships between objects and spaces, with many of her works exuding an almost architectural feel. Strong influences from artists such as Mondrian, Malevich and Rothko can be seen in her work. In her words: "I have always been interested in playing with space in order to change the way it is perceived. These interventions usually have a pictorial character that goes back to my training as a painter, whilst also using other media such as drawing, sculpture and installation".
Susana Solano (Barcelona, 1946) creates symbolic spaces with abstract forms, drawing inspiration from nature, the environment, and memory, inducing us to observe them and respond. Based on her own experiences, she raises questions about human beings and their relationship with habitats. We find architectures like cavities, receptacles, deposits or hills that explore the margins between the visible and the hidden. The work Recipient nº2, made by the sculptress in 1982, is an example of this.
