Miguel Ybáñez: Arqueología emocional 2
GRIMM is pleased to announce Arqueología emocional 2. It is the third solo exhibition by Miguel Ybáñez with the gallery and will take place at GRIMM Frans Halsstraat in Amsterdam.
In Arqueología emocional 2, Ybáñez presents sculptures, painted books, wall reliefs, oil paintings, and a new series of ‘ash drawings’. In the tradition of Art Brut and Arte Povera, Ybáñez creates its reliefs and sculptures from cardboard, metal and plaster and various found materials. United in white paint, these objects have obtained a timeless and ethereal look. Just like the art movements from the 1950s, Ybáñez aims to transcend the dichotomies between nature and culture, past and present and ‘high’ and ‘low’ art.
Throughout the exhibition space, suspended objects are reminiscent of abstracted and enlarged kitchen utensils; a table is ‘set’ with sculptures that resemble plates, cutlery and plate warmers. They are meant by the artist as a tongue-in-cheek illustration of human interaction at a dinner table, where the kitchen acts as a metaphor for the workshop and vice versa.
The series of ash drawings, in which the ash symbolizes the endless cycle of life and death, form the link between the various works in the exhibition; they are presented in a long sequence, like a stream of consciousness, illus- trating Ybáñez’ particular way of working. According to Ybáñez, the cosmos can be seen as the ultimate still life; a still life of matter, energy, and material movement, which is rearranged time and time again. The driving force behind Ybáñez’ work, and according to him, the only true task and essence of all art, is the expression of universal emotions, that take place in an extra-dimensional space. Art is a language without words; it functions as a ritual through which cultures can pass on messages to the next generation and thus it can be understood as a victory over death.
Arqueología emocional 2 is the sequel to the solo exhibition by Ybáñez at GRIMM in 2012. The concept of archeology can be interpreted in several ways here: firstly, it refers to certain elements and energies of one culture, living on in the next one. Moreover, the title refers to the introspection of the artist and the inward excavation of the deepest, most primitive emotions that are being articulated in his work.
