Art Madrid'23 – THE CREATIVE UNIVERSE OF M.C.ESCHER


Maurits Cornelis Escher, February 1938. Woodcut, 39.1 × 67.7 cm Collezione Giudiceandrea Federico All M.C. Escher works © 2016 The M.C. Escher Company

 

The Dutch artist Maurtis Corneils Escher, 1898-1972. He is known worldwide for his wood engravings. Escher's style is a paradigm, his relationship with mathematics and geometry have managed to create impossible figures that still escape our reason today. Their imaginary worlds are a constant in his work. His drawings in 2D and 3D move the viewer into stranger places.

 

 

Maurits Cornelis Escher's work, xylographic engraving

 

 

Escher's work has traveled all over the world. He was one of the most copied artists in history, to such an extent that the last years of his career was dedicated to destroying the original pieces so that they do not copy. Many of his works are distributed worldwide in public and private collections. Now, we can enjoy more than 200 works collected in the palace of Gaviria.

 

 

View of the exhibition

 

This space was closed for many years. Thanks to the Arthemisa, an Italian group that produces and organizes the show, they have filled with games of logic the palatial stays. The exhibition, curated by Mark Veldhuysen (CEO of the M.C. Escher Company) and the collector Federico Giudiceandrea. The exhibition includes such emblematic works as "Hand with reflective sphere" "Relativity" (or House of Stairs) and "Belvedere". Thanks to these pieces we can get a little closer to the twisted mind of a scientist.

 

 

Maurits Cornelis Escher's work, xylographic engraving

 

 

In addition, the exhibition counts on scientific experiments, play areas and other educational resources to bring the art closer to the little ones. A safe bet for all audiences and a unique opportunity to enjoy a rare artistic experience. Also noteworthy is the section "Eschermanía", which includes drawings, lithographs, etchings and woodcuts of the artist that have influenced the world of film and design, among other fields.

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.