Art Madrid'23 – ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM ARRIVES IN BILBAO

Mural, 1943- Jackson Pollock

 

 

Abstract expressionism is considered the first American movement within abstract art. American critics soon caught the emergence of the new style. Robert Coates is credited with the invention of the term, however the artists of this movement rejected this idea implying that they had nothing to do with abstract painting or German expressionism.

 

 

PH-950, 1950- Clifford Still 

 

 

 

The representatives of this current belonged to different nationalities and social groups, therefore it was a heterogeneous feeling. What they did have in common was the experience of historical events of such magnitude as the Spanish Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, among others. The scale of the US as a world power fueled the confidence to proclaim itself queen of the artistic panorama at world-wide level. What stands out to this movement is the capacity of expression that shows in its works.

 

 

Excavation, 1950- De Kooning

 

 

Divided into two easily recognizable currents, the "action painting" that stands out for its movement, was the seed that germinated the primacy of action before the work. The gesture of painting spontaneously proclaims itself as a kind of psychic and physical automatism of the artist.


The other side, the "color-field" or painting of fields of color is an antecedent of the minimal movement. It was presented as an alternative to "action painting", focused on the color and language that it transmits. One of the characteristics of this aspect is the intensity with which its representatives fix the color in the fabric, making a monochrome with hardly any presence, a light and calm movement that contrasts with the vibrant reaction of the action paintings.

 

Blue gray- Mark Rothko

 

 

 

This movement removes the traditional barriers between painting and painter making the action a work of art. For this reason, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao together with the Royal Academy of London have wanted to pay tribute to this style with an exhibition that will open on February 3 and will be in force until June 4. Curated by David Anfam, Edith Devaney and Lucía Agirre, it promises to be an unavoidable event for this season.

 

 

In the year 2020 in the heart of Barcelona a wandering gallery was born, the same one that in February 2021 would debut at Art Madrid with an exhibition proposal focused on contemporary portraits; with this subject matter it would manage to create a powerful dialogue between artwork and audience and make the seal Inéditad remain in the history of the event that contained it.

Jean Carlos Puerto. Protección. Oil and copper leaf on wood. 60 x 48. 2021. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Since that first time and until today, the wandering gallery has managed to build projects on otherness, has repositioned in the spotlight the discourses on the LGTBIQ+ collective, has consolidated a group of artists who share its principles of resilience and empathy and the best thing is that it continues to bet from the professionalism and commitment to give voice to the difference.

Claudio Petit-Laurent.. El Joven de la Perla. Oil on wood. 30 x 30 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Inéditad Gallery, thanks to its founder Luis López, its collaborators and the infinite possibilities manifested in the works of the artists it represents, is a gallery that has demonstrated its capacity and courage to stimulate the sensibility of the public through art and seduce a generation that moves between the glass window and the analogical story. Inéditad is a nomadic gallery that has gathered around it a community of artists and has moved the context with exhibition projects that think about LGTBIQ+ art without prejudices.

Pepa Salas Vilar. Las marcas del arcoiris. Oil on canvas. 40 x 50 cm. 2022. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Pride and Prejudice was inaugurated. An exhibition that brings together the works of sixteen artists: Abel Carrillo, Alex Domènech, Carlos Enfedaque, Silvia Flechoso, Jamalajama, Daniel Jaén, Claudio Petit-Laurent, Jean Carlos Puerto, Fernando Romero, Pablo Rodríguez, Pepa Salas Vilar, Jack Smith, Pablo Sola, Bran Sólo, Elia Tomás and Utürüo. Painting, illustration, photography and digital art are the manifestations that bring into dialogue around fifty neatly threaded pieces, in a discursive line that discusses such a latent phenomenon as discrimination. To achieve this, the artists invited to the exhibition question themselves whether: Does discrimination exist within the LGTBIQ+ collective?

Pride and Prejudice Official Poster. Image courtesy of the gallery.

With approaches on and from the body, the proposal invites to celebrate diversity, proposes to question and self-question the prejudices and attitudes of society against the collective. Pride and Prejudice is a space for dialogue about the constructs imposed on us by society. It is also an oasis in which to deconstruct with tolerance and respect the subjectivities that sometimes prevent us from approaching the production of the participating artists, simply because "the beautiful" does not fit in an androgynous body. The subjugation of stereotypes are pressed with determination to find the beauty of diversity in other palpable facets of reality.

Pablo Sola. All men are dogs. Photography. 2014. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Throughout these three years Inéditad has stimulated the vindictive projection towards bad practices, has questioned estates around the LGTBIQ+ body and the most admirable thing, is that these capacities have resurfaced around the dialogue and the visual narrative of the stories that are told from the visual: Artworks that are people, art that is, per se, humanity. Overcome impositions and accept what is different in order to continue fighting against homophobia, biphobia, lesbophobia or transphobia and defend the equal rights that all the acronyms of the collective deserve in our community.

That's Pride and Prejudice: One creature, the happiest in the world. And maybe other projects and other people have said it - or felt it - before, but none so fairly.

Silvia Flechoso. Hola, soy maricón. Oil on canvas. 73 x 54 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

From June 8th until June 22nd you can visit Pride and Prejudice. Carrer de Palau núm. 4. Canal Gallery space. Barcelona.