SILENT ARCHITECTURES
by Xavier Monclús
Dates: 01.06 – 23.06 / 2016
Opening: June, 1ts from 19:30 hrs.
For his first solo exhibition at the gallery, Monclús will showcase a group of 17 new works. Silent Architectures confirm the evolution we’ve been sensing for the last four years: a shift towards simplicity and abstraction.
Architectural fables
In order to define the work of Xavier Monclús, complex in its apparent simplicity, all we could come up with is an oxymoron: his work is based on what we might call a cultured ingenuity. The pieces shown here recall the delicate illustrations of the noucentista Pere Torné Esquius, immersing us in a world of sweet, domestic and welcoming serenity. Yet the schematic sense, awareness of volumes and cut of the profiles in these pieces (as if defined by an implacable light) evoke the outlook of the modern architects of the GATCPAC on rediscovering Mediterranean architecture in Ibiza, Xavier Monclús being familiar with its Menorcan variant.
Scale is essential when it comes to understanding these pieces. Are they large jewels or small houses? Plastic objects and animals are incorporated, disorienting us still further. Tubes, conduits and handles turn them into intriguing machines, announcing a movement, an action… a story. Textures are also very important, rough surfaces serving as a counterpoint to the smooth cleanness of the quaint technique.
Àlex Mitrani, Fine Art Curator
Contemporary Art Magazine