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Everything begins in a summer afternoon in 1993.
In that hot afternoon, perhaps preparing a sandwich of I don’t know what and cheese, I dropped a small portion of the slice over the ground. I slightly twisted the head and I kept still a few seconds in front of the beauty of a tiny yellow lamina that was moving along the ground. Before that magical moment, and daily at the same time, I knelt down quietly and did a little zoom with the gaze to find out the reason for that dance. And that’s when I understood that those living beings were living at ease due to the fact that we were inhabiting a ground floor apartment located in an old house. Nay, when the occasional garden and orchard were around. In this case, an army of tiny ants well organized could carry that delicacy to their little lair with a leisurely pace but conscientious.
Picnic begins with a memory, with a minimal story situated in a farmer and agricultural village named Linyola (Lleida, Catalonia-Spain).
Picnic captures the essence of an autobiographical short story of the past, demonstrating that ‘any day can be extraordinary, any place can be a workshop, but any gaze doesn’t make extraordinary the daily reality’. So, gaze and little details occupy a significant space in this solo exhibition, like the atmosphere of a snack or lunch. The scenario is no longer located in an interior space, it becomes forest and nature. Thus, the installation presented at Trinta gallery could be considered as a particular vision of a shared meal with friends, as in The Luncheon on the Grass by Édouard Manet with due respect to the obvious differences and approach. The picnic takes place in a bucolic atmosphere that surrounds us and tickles as well without realizing almost. Different situations in which human and animal presence acquire special importance are presented. They are, in short, actions and sensitive and subtle situations that anyone can feel identified. The treatment of all pieces is especially delicate and laborious. Facial structures at certain times can remind Arcimboldo. Small filigrees that invite you to dream. To discover ‘alone’ better, in a charming silent, face to face.
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TRINTA Gallery+
Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
From the 12th to the 15th of September, 2014.
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Photos: Tono Arias and Marta Bran.