ZONAMACO 2023
CHAPTER I: SIMULACRUM
Ivan Franco (Spain, 1979) is a master. The Spanish artist copies reality to such an extent that he questions the identification of what is real and what is not. A narrative on the road to nothingness could not begin in any other way, it is essential that it begins from the whole, and that is the work of Ivan Franco. A simulation game that questions the importance of what is represented versus how it is represented. A reality so tangible that it questions its own meaning.
UNFOCUSED (LE) 1
2021. Colored pencils on paper. 49 x 37 cm
UNFOCUSED (LE) 4
2021. Colored pencils on paper. 49 x 37 cm
CHAPTER II: PROTAGONISTS WHO ARE NOT THERE
The main characters of Guim Tió (Spain, 1987) do not usually have faces, and if they do, they are not recognizable. A step forward from hyperrealism is to take a step towards the use of suggestion and the collective imaginary to provoke a recognition that, in reality, is not there. With very few brushstrokes the eternal storyteller has the ability to catch the attention in tiny figures, much more abstract than what our unconscious allows us to recognize.
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on canvas. 118 x 91 cm
CHAPTER III: SHATTERING THE FIGURES
Gabrielle Graessle (Switzerland, 1956) is the perfect reflection of the new figuration; a return to the use of clearly identifiable references to tell something. In her case, she opts for the iconography of the Old West, horses, riders and fields. Although always extravagant and modern, the first chapter of our story focuses on the predictable beginning: the work has a clear theme, accompanies the viewer by the hand, shows faces, familiar shapes.
It is a safe, risk-free environment.
YEE YEE (IX)
2022. Acrylic, Aerosol and Glitter on canvas. 163 x 130 cm
CIRCULATORY NAVIGATOR
2022. Oil on canvas. 163 x 130 x 5 cm
FOREVER YOURS
2022. Acrylic, Spray Paint and Glitter on canvas. 63 x 83 cm
WAU WAU
2022. Acrylic, Spray Paint and Glitter on canvas. 63 x 83 cm
SIN TÍTULO
2022. Acrylic on paper. 70 x 85 cm
CHAPTER IV: IT ONLY EXISTS IF YOU LOOK FOR IT
There are figurations and figurations. Figurativism declares itself representational by definition. Sune Christiansen (Denmark, 1976) is one of the European promises of the new movement of young artists. Sune is a master of color, with a primary and sometimes almost childish conception, Sune generates a pictorial atmosphere that dives in the colorist tradition of the 20th century. A step closer to reducing, a step closer to emptiness. He opts for the background, the protagonists are no longer protagonists. He no longer holds out his hand to the visitor but remains at his side, disguised, dancing among and with the geometric shapes around him.
UNTITLED
2022. Oil stick, soft pastel acrylic paint and airbrush on cotton canvas. 110 x 80 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil stick, soft pastel acrylic paint and airbrush on cotton canvas. 130 x 100 cm
UNTITLED (GHOST)
2022. Oil stick, soft pastel acrylic paint and airbrush on cotton canvas. 110 x 80 cm
CHAPTER V: KEEPING THE STROKES
Aythamy Armas (Canary Islands, 1977) presents the next obvious step towards the reduction of form: the gesture. There are no figures, only strokes. The emptiness is what attracts and invites to stop in front of the work. Aythamy’s work is a space devoid of references, but with a multitude of lines capable of sensitizing contemplation. A risky but necessary step, the key, the first step towards an empty surface, but visually full at the same time.
ZM02012/22
2022. Charcoal, pastel, aerosol and stick conté on canvas. 163 x 130 cm
ZM15/22
2022. Charcoal, pastel, aerosol on canvas. 81 x 65 cm
ZM16/22
2022. Pastel and stick conté on canvas. 81 x 65 cm
ZM05012/22
2022. Color pencil and pastel on canvas. 163 x 130 cm
CHAPTER VI: SIMPLIFYING LINES.
A stroke may seem like a minimum that is difficult to reduce. Simplifying a line seems an impossible task, however, the work of Richard Zinon (England, 1985) achieves just that, dominating the line and containing it in measured oil brushstrokes. These brushstrokes talk to each other, converse, dance and manage to stay in harmony battling on a canvas where negative space rules.
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on canvas. 170 x 140 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on canvas. 170 x 140 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm
CHAPTER VII: INTRODUCING THE VOID.
Jordi Alcaraz (Spain, 1963) works with absence, so Jordi Alcaraz creates works using emptiness as an ally. Jordi Alcaraz wanted to be a writer, so Jordi Alcaraz modifies blank books and tells his own stories. Until now we had respected the pictorial matter. During this journey we have restricted and limited elements but we have kept the painting. Not anymore. With the use of methacrylates, black ink and volumes, the artist condenses infinite stories in a few elements.
IDEA PER A UN LLIBRE
2022. Book and methacrylate. 35 x 46 cm
PROJECTE PER A LA PORTADA D’UN LLIBRE
2022. Book drawing and methacrylate. 52 x 66 cm
PARTITURA 1
2022. Lithographic pencil, resin, carbon and methacrylate. 155 x 115 cm
PARTITURA 2
2022. Lithographic pencil, resin, carbon and methacrylate. 155 x 115 cm
CHAPTER VIII: THE HOLLOW CAVITY
In the nothingness there is room for everything. The work of Manolo Ballesteros (Spain, 1965) revolves around the use of hollowness, to abbreviate to the maximum any notion of art. The figures we started with are long forgotten, there is no trace of them anywhere. The odd folded paper seems to pay homage to the books of the previous chapter, but the synthesis has reached its peak, it has decomposed and recomposed itself in the form of empty boxes, full of air, full of everything that is no longer there.
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on aluminium. 120 x 90 x 12 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on aluminium. 120 x 90 x 12 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on aluminium. 120 x 90 x 12 cm
UNTITLED
2022. Oil on aluminium. 120 x 90 x 12 cm
