De Volder, Sobrino · 11.08.2016 - 10.10.2016

Andres Sobrino and Beto De Volder

curatorial text

The geometric tradition in our country is enormous and many are the teachers who have turned the tide on the national art scene, one that , let’s face it, has not always been the most open. They transformed this field, making it more subtle and elegant through the implementation of minimal elements and managing to bring to the forefront, the fundamental aspects of an artwork: line, shape and color.

When, from the 1940s onwards, the groups promoting geometry and concrete art in Argentina burst into the art scene, following the mandate of the first abstract artists and moving away from the obvious idea of ​​representation, they planted the seed that has, since then, borne the most fantastic fruits. They managed to put in evidence the refinement that characterized their works and were able to re-educated and stylize the viewer’s gaze. And even though some time has passed since the emergence of these movements, the notions they developed rest on the shoulders of a generation of contemporary geometric artists, both emerging and established, who continue to build and defend these pictorial traditions.

Beto de Volder and Andrés Sobrino have been working on this direction for more than twenty years and thus have become referential figures who today join forces in an exhibition that seeks to prioritize the image above all. In Andrés Sobrino’s paintings, geometric shapes predominate. Distinguished and seductively shiny, they are perched on the surface of the plane where one can find rectangles, intersecting lines, squares or diamonds, all contained by the background. His use of materials naturally related to the industry allows for any trace of the artist’s hand to almost disappear, however always allowing for the warmth provided by the artisanal aspect of the job to stay intact. Color is yet another important feature in Andres’ work, in this case reduced to a handful of shades, yellows, blues, a touch of pink and the classic black and white, that dialogue in absolute harmony. His works provide the exuberant feeling of being able to appreciate the purest aspects of art simply for their own sake.

For Beto de Volder, this exhibition was his opportunity to portray soft geometries in paper (a practice he had already experienced) and canvas through poetic figures, allowing for the notion of beginning and end, above and below, to get lost in translation. The action resembles the theoretical idea of bringing his sculptures down from the wall and stripping them from all meaning in order to start again fresh, from scratch.

In the case of Sobrino, the colors that predominate are also few but terribly effective, his means to create minimalist shapes that float on the white background of the paper. Circles that intertwine in order to mutate into the symbol of infinity and organic figures arranged in such a way that it becomes impossible to distinguishing whether they are geometries or body parts, or, why not, both.

However, above all, this experience seeks to add value to the image for what it is singlehandedly. As Sobrino and De Volder have expressed themselves, sometimes words are too much and the true value lies in learning to contemplate the work and take what each individual wants from it. Thus, this exhibition has been thought to be watched deeply.

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