Ferran García Sevilla: La torre de papel

18 may, 1989 - 15 july, 1989 /
Palacio de Velázquez, Parque del Retiro, Madrid

In this exhibition sixty-two works by Ferran García Sevilla (Palma de Mallorca, 1949) are presented under the title La torre de papel (The Tower of Paper). His artistic career gets underway in the Sixties with his initial work being linked to Conceptual Art; it later moves into the pictorial sphere at the beginning of the Eighties.

The works of García Sevilla encapsulate a subtle philosophical analysis of life and artistic creation, tackled through the juxtaposition of the selected images. The process enables him to craft a poetic vision of what is represented through highly abstract forms and everyday objects.

The works comprising the exhibition in the Palacio de Velázquez of the Retiro Park belong to his most recent output and are arranged chronologically in the series Paraíso, Erase, Tot, Mona, Ruc, Cien, Polígono, Tecla, Mosaicos and Bajorrelieves that highlight his work from 1985 to the present day.

In February 1989 a significant exhibition dedicated to the artist is opened in the Centre d'Art Santa Mònica and Centre of Contemporary Culture in the Casa de la Caritat in Barcelona. The exhibit looks at the canvases realised by the artist during the Eighties by displaying eight series, which can also be seen in the exhibition in Madrid. One new aspect when compared to Barcelona can be found in the most recent series: Tecla (Key), represented by six large-scale assemblage pieces and Bajorrelieves (Bas-relief), made up of four wooden pieces, also large-scale.

In the series Tecla the use of diverse materials can be appreciated, from cables, pipes and tiles to shoes, books, a clock, a cuddly toy, a radio, a vase, an axe, cassette tape and a post box. These objects are incorporated in a background of wallpaper, which, although originally designed for home decoration now form the pattern on which the three-dimensional objects are geometrically distributed. This addition represents a transformation in Ferran García Sevilla's work, though the series still contains traces of his previous output, such as the striking chromatism or the references to the human figure.

Moreover, the series Bajorrelieves, made with wooden planks, is another innovation in the artist's oeuvre. These pieces result in geometric figures being built in accordance with the original measurements of the plank, apart from when he works with circular forms, which invade the composition. The tones of the wood, with marks from previous uses, subtly alternate and vary the perception of the depth of the work.

Together with Mosaicos, these two series affirm Ferran García Sevilla's thematic freedom, which corresponds to his allurement towards new forms of expression - clearly apparent in this exhibition - seen in his most recent work through the images that appear outside the traditional context of the canvas.

Exhibition´s details

Organized by: 
Dirección General de Bellas Artes y Archivos
Curatorship: 
Jacques Dupin