A la manera de… (IV)

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Andrés Aparicio, Rocío Arregui, Daniel Bilbao, Alejandro Botubol, Carmen Calvo, Victoria Civera, Tomás Cordero, Manolo Cuervo, Juan Domínguez, Mercedes de la Gala, María Gómez, Dionisio González, Luis Gordillo, Federico Guzmán, Alfredo Igualador, Claudia Irhek, Anna Jonsson, Abraham Lacalle, Sylvain Marc, Martín y Sicilia, Aurelia Medina, Federico Miró, Lita Mora, Esther Morcillo, Seleka Muñoz, Ubay Murillo, Carlos Nicanor, Lidia Ortega, Carlos Ortiz, Ángel Pantoja, Zenaida Pablo Romero, Luis Palmero, Mané Pérez Tapias, Paco Pérez Valencia, Enrique Ramos Guerra, MP&MP Rosado, Chema Rodríguez, Ana S. Valderrábanos, Adriana Torres, Juan Uslé, Vicky Uslé, Javier Valverde, Cristina Ybarra y anónimo.

Artists paid tribute to:
Arman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois, Constantin Brâncusi, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Michael Druks, Elmgreen & Dragset, Richard Diebenkorn, Marisol Escobar, Dorothea von Elbe, Lucien Freud, Luis Gordillo, Juan Hidalgo, Howard Hodgkin, Hans Hoffman, David Hockney, William Kentridge, Paul Klee, Imi Knoebel, Lee Krasner, Francisco Lozano, René Magritte, Kazémir Malévich, Henry Matisse, Ana Mendieta, Giorgio Morandi, Takashi Murakami, Blinky Palermo, Miguel Pérez Aguilera, Pablo R. Picasso,Tal R, Odilon Redon, Wilhelm Sasnal, Sean Scully, Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman, David Shrigley, Wayne Thiebaud, Henry Van de Velde, Édouard Vuillard y anónimo.

FROM ANECDOTE TO MYTH
Approaching the complex equation of artistic creation as an extension of a previous style makes it possible to carry out diverse reflective combinations on the resulting work. Thus, by observing these pieces from the outside, the analysis of the subjective dimension that the artist already possesses beforehand and with which the work has been carried out is accentuated, the contemplation of the objective aspects of the piece is refined, and a profound journey through meticulous observation begins in order to establish aesthetic and thought connections.

Of all the methods used in the study of Art History, the biographical method is the one that arouses the most interest in divulgation, perhaps because documenting the vital milestones through which an artist has passed has allowed us to understand his changes of style.

On the other hand, when we look at a work of art knowing that the person who has made it appeals to the knowledge of the one who looks at it, and deconstructs himself to reinvent himself again by re-reading the creativity of someone who preceded him, we -as spectators- are exalted and establishing connections that satisfy our restlessness. Berger already said: “What we know or what we believe affects the way we see things”. It is a timeless reality that the civic pride of the spectator must lead to the praise of their uomini illustri. Among these illustrious people, it is the Western Artists who were bearers of modernity from the early twentieth century to the present day, many of whom have been considered true alchemists, the ones who have played a decisive role in Art History.

“A la manera de…” is, in essence, a multidisciplinary and intergenerational compendium, now in its fourth edition at Rafael Ortiz Gallery. It is a synthesis that fulfills, on the one hand, a didactic function, and on the other, an important role in the promotion of artists. Conceptually, it is a challenge to the intellect and the aesthetic sense of specialists and laymen alike, –for it addresses the precepts Gombrich sentenced when he defined the history of art as “Caesar’s Gaul”, with three terrains inhabited by different non-hostile tribes–; and it satisfies the tastes of connoisseurs, critics and academicians for the variety of works it gathers and for the breadth of visions each one of them offers.

When paying homage to other artists by working “in their style”, artists become temporary passengers of their school, which immerses them in a deep aesthetic research on the enigma of the sublime or the fascination that the artists paid tribute to produce in them. The objective of the exhibition in general is clear: to establish a relative artistic value among pieces that, in their formal, conceptual or stylistic configuration, are similar to the work of other artists.
The artists who participate here –and those paid tribute to– have partially or totally covered all the professional niches of contemporary art. Their figures are –and were– decisive in consolidating creation as an academic discipline and coining their styles in the institutional environment –museums, the art market, university departments, editorial productions– and tracing a line of study. By compiling these pieces, the exhibition shows that the configuration of artistic language always leaves a gap for the search or interpretation of new art forms, offering a sort of visual gymkhana or a correlate of challenges for thought, in which the enigmatic, perhaps, is not intended, but it is key.

Patricia Bueno
April 2021