Courtesy of David Magán Studio.
This is held after the recent exhibition dedicated to the artist at the Caja de Burgos CAB Art Center (October 2, 2020 – February 21, 2021), the most ambitious to date. Matter Matters has become a series of immersive installations through which Magán explores the possibilities of transforming the architectural space that houses them. The ensemble exhibited at the CAB has been presented as a continuation of the artist’s incessant search to reveal the physicality of light and color through a series of chromatic effects that demand the intervention of the spectator to demonstrate their presence.
On this occasion, the Blanca de Navarra 7 space will house a selection of seven recent methacrylate sculptures, which are revealed as an articulation of circular modules in constant transformation, and highlight the importance of the line in the work of David Magán.
Hard-Line, as this series of works is called, establishes a direct dialogue with the work of artists such as Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015) and Frank Stella (1936), two of the greatest exponents of the North American Hard-Edge who, reacting against the gestures of Abstract Expressionism, adopted a consciously impersonal approach, where monochromatic fields with strongly delimiting lines reinforced the idea of flatness and surface in their compositions. But Magán also finds references in the dialogue between line and frame established by Robert Mangold (1937) or the Wall Drawings by Sol Levitt (1928-2007).
Courtesy of David Magán Studio.
Courtesy of David Magán Studio.
The use of the line has been very present in the production of the artist since its inception in series such as Línea Continua, where the sculptural structure draws a closed line in space. Also, in his embedded sculptures, such as P7 / 140 v.01, where the effects – casual or not – are decisive in his later conception.
This new series of works, Línea Vacía -or Hueca, as Magán would initially call it- dates back to some reliefs and installations produced in 2015. However, here the pieces already show a much more deliberate and conscious use of the line, now becoming the central element of the sculpture despite being placed on the plane in the form of a support (methacrylate).
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In the reliefs of Magán, these “empty lines” (incisions or cuts) have a compositional sense that leads us to the interior of the work. An interference of the drawing in the reliefs. But the line also works as a modulating element of color, revealing to the viewer the colors in front or behind and generating a visual contrast.
David Magán’s work is not conceived solely as a composition, but there is in its process an important component of constructive challenge -or perhaps of play- in the way in which he approaches each of his series, posing restrictions, conditions or ambiguities that invite the viewer to be a participant in the mental process of the artist. Therefore, on some occasions, we will see that the lines appear as real incisions that penetrate the material, as in Relieve 61 v.01, Relieve 62 v.01 or Relieve 72 v.01. But, other times, the shape and / or arrangement of the pieces creates an illusion of lines, as in Relieve 71 v.02 or Relieve 74 v.01.
Courtesy of David Magán Studio.
In Hard-Line, all the reliefs presented start from the circle, a rarity in Magán’s production. The use of this figure broadens his language and his studies on geometry. Furthermore, very interested in what Josef Albers (1888-1976) called “Transparency and spatial illusion”, Magán now exhibits his first diptychs in which, through two identical opposing elements – where the only variable is the arrangement of the color plates-, the viewer can clearly discover the different tones that the compositions generate.
Courtesy of David Magán Studio.
This selection invites the viewer to immerse themselves in a world of color and physical complexities. The works will be modified as the visitor discovers and travels the space, highlighting the interdependence between work, body, and space.
