Exhibition information
Marta Guisande
Galerie m Bochum is showing from November 27th, 2015, until February 24th, 2016, recent paintings by Marta Guisande (born 1965 in Seville, lives and works in Cologne). Guisande takes an intuitive approach to painting, developing her images gradually. During the painting process, which can take weeks or months, she builds up the substance of the image from textures and translucent, often thin layers of paint, frequently leading to surprising twists and turns and multifaceted results. Visual rhythms evolve within the image itself, among the various works, and also in relation to the surrounding exhibition space.
The structure of each individual work is created by repeatedly applying layers of paint and then partially removing them again. The artist wipes the paint and scratches at the picture surface – a search for gestural brushwork would thus be futile. The result is a matte, open-pored surface from which the pigments seem to glow.
Guisande concocts this delicate fabric of color and structure layer by layer, without knowing where the painting process will ultimately take her. But the compression and dissolution is also the result of working the back of the canvas. With the outcome of each step uncertain, the status of the image must be repeatedly inspected to decide on the further procedure.
The works relate to one another in the exhibition through similarities in their composition or paint application. Diamond-shaped patterns overlay more or less subtly all the canvases that are part of the installation with its open hanging. In three black paintings, Guisande experiments with transparency and opaque stripes that let the gaze penetrate the surfaces to a greater or lesser degree. Three other paintings stand out due to their surface structure: the paint looks dry here, almost rough. And the image in turns appears particularly permeable – a property that Guisande strives for in all of her work. She speaks in this connection of “pictures that breathe.”
The structure of each individual work is created by repeatedly applying layers of paint and then partially removing them again. The artist wipes the paint and scratches at the picture surface – a search for gestural brushwork would thus be futile. The result is a matte, open-pored surface from which the pigments seem to glow.
Guisande concocts this delicate fabric of color and structure layer by layer, without knowing where the painting process will ultimately take her. But the compression and dissolution is also the result of working the back of the canvas. With the outcome of each step uncertain, the status of the image must be repeatedly inspected to decide on the further procedure.
The works relate to one another in the exhibition through similarities in their composition or paint application. Diamond-shaped patterns overlay more or less subtly all the canvases that are part of the installation with its open hanging. In three black paintings, Guisande experiments with transparency and opaque stripes that let the gaze penetrate the surfaces to a greater or lesser degree. Three other paintings stand out due to their surface structure: the paint looks dry here, almost rough. And the image in turns appears particularly permeable – a property that Guisande strives for in all of her work. She speaks in this connection of “pictures that breathe.”
