Galería Rafa

Dorothea von Elbe

Rythm, Structure, Leaves

 

There are artists who have the ability to unveil the world. A few strokes, a splash of water, and a revelation occurs. Capturing the essence of things is sudden, it happens like a Satori or Zen awakening, but sudden things are always the result of experimentation. How many attempts, how much concentration did Mugi Fuchang require in order to reach perfection in his Six Persimmons? His traces of ink, some thick and some barely there, seem to be the product of spontaneity. The effort is not visible, because it doesn’t have to be: the artist’s work is to document the state of the world. A few leaves that were picked in the mountains and a flower next to a swamp become the language that explains the passing of time.

Dried Leaves and Carnations was the title that Mario Mafai gave to one of his paintings. The elements of the painting don’t intertwine and seem to float in space. The artist tried different arrangements until reaching visual harmony. During this process, several days passed. The carnations bent and lost their arrogance, but not their meaning. It was 1934, and the dense, cloud-like shadows that the carnations project seem to predict a dark time.

Ellsworth Kelly included grapevines in his sequence Leaves. In one of those paintings, the leaves are four dramatic black stains that make the paper look whiter than it is. This is an unusual representation of this plant, as it is most commonly associated with the sun, which ripens the grapes. Ellsworth Kelly uses this technique to submerge us in the joyous and swaying contour of a grapevine.

The work of Mugi Fuchang, Mafai and Kelly constitute a series of references for the work of Dorothea von Elbe that is currently exhibited in Galería Rafael Ortiz. Just like these artists did, von Elbe intends to capture an instance and to document it. The pieces express the paradoxical through the obvious. They explain the simplicity of the mechanisms of nature by means of highly refined expressive techniques.

To walk… to watch… to capture he image of things… to narrate their identity.

SOBRE LA ARTISTA

DOROTHEA VON ELBE
Dettmansdorf, Alemania. Naturalizada americana.
Licenciatura en Artes. Universidad de Wisconsin. USA. 1968.
Reside y trabaja en Córdoba desde 1982.
 
Cursos en:
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Skowhegan, Maine. USA.
The New School for Social Research, New York. USA.
Pratt Graphic Center, New York. USA.
EXPOSICIONES INDIVIDUALES
 
1968
Master of Arts Exhibition. University of Wisconsin. Madison,WI. USA.
 
1985
Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
1987
Museo de Bellas Artes. Córdoba. (Con J. Mª Baez)
 
1991
Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
1993
Galería Carmen de la Calle. Jerez. Cádiz.
 
1994
Galería Estampa. Madrid.
 
1995
Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
1996
Galería Bores & Mallo. Cáceres. (Con María Gómez)
Galería Estampa. Madrid.
 
1998
Galería Trazos Tres. Santander.
Oil on linen. 1998. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
2001
Obra reciente. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
2003
Pinturas. Galería Vanguardia. Bilbao.
 
2007
Galería María Prego. Vigo.
 
2012
Nunca había sabido que mi paso era distinto sobre tierra roja. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
2018
Ritmo, estructuras, hojas. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
2019
The Idea of Nature. Artesantander 2019. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Santander.
 
2020
El equilibrio natural. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
EXPOSICIONES COLECTIVAS MÁS RECIENTES
 
2007
El pensamiento en la boca. Sala Cajasol. Jerez, Cádiz.
ARTESANTANDER’07. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Santander.
 
2008
Todos contra el cáncer. Asociación Española contra el cáncer. Museo de Carruajes. Sevilla.
ART/SALAMANCA/08. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Castilla y León.
Salamanca.
 
2009
El pensamiento en la boca. Salas Cajasol. Sevilla.
ARCO’09. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Madrid.
ARTESANTANDER’09. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Santander.
Aprendiendo a mirar. 25 años de la Galería Rafael Ortiz. Centro de las Artes de Sevilla, caS. Sevilla.
 
2013
PINTA London. The Modern & Contemporary Latin American Art Show. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Londres. Reino Unido.
 
2015
SUMMA Art Fair 2015. Stand Galería Rafael Ortiz. Madrid.
 
2016 
El papel del artista. Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla. 
 
2017
A la manera de … Galería Rafael Ortiz. Sevilla.
 
2018
Futura. II edición Carajillo Visit. Nave Oporto. Madrid.
 
2020
Pensar en voz baja. Galería Rafael Ortiz (virtual).
Nuevos cánones. Entre la escultura y la arquitectura. Galería Rafael Ortiz (virtual).
OBRAS EN COLECCIONES PÚBLICAS. Selección.
 
Biblioteca Nacional. Madrid
Colección Fundación Olontia. Gibraleón, Huelva.
Colección olorVISUAL, Barcelona
Colección Testimoni. La Caixa. Barcelona
Compañía Sevillana de Electricidad. Huelva / Colección Endesa. 
Diputación Provincial de Sevilla. Sevilla
Museo de Bellas Artes. Córdoba
Colección Parlamento de Andalucía. 
LIBROS ILUSTRADOS
 
Texas Wild. E.P. Dutton. New York. 1976.
The Incompleat Angler. E.P. Dutton. New York. 1977.
Roman Germany. Verlag Philipp von Zabern. Mainz. 1977.
España, Ida y Vuelta. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. New York.1981.
ARTE EN ESPACIOS PÚBLICOS
 
Centro de Recepción de Visitantes. Córdoba.