Every time I have the opportunity to appreciate Olga de Amaral’s work, I see it as different, different, and the fact is that her production offers so many angles of appreciation and so many arguments of valuation that every time I confront it, by virtue of that complexity, it seems to me that I am observing it for the first time.
The exhibition to which I refer in this text takes place at the Duque Arango Gallery in Medellin and will be presented later at Casa Más in Bogota. It is an exhibition composed of works that left the artist’s studio at different times, but which, thanks to the generosity of some collectors, have left their private niches to be appreciated again by the public.
Although one can, of course, close one’s eyes and mentally relive the artist’s career to place each work in the precise moment of its execution and the thoughts involved in its development, the exhibition encourages one to open one’s eyes wide and concentrate on each piece, on its attributes, characteristics and suggestions without having to meditate on the chronology and consistency of its language.
It is an exhibition to delight visually, to enjoy centimeter by centimeter, stitch by stitch, thread by thread, knot by knot, because in it each of the elements denotes a reflection about its contribution to the content, to the aesthetic and conceptual statement it represents.
Among the works exhibited is Nebula, which is the only one with Japanese paper as support and where precious metals are conspicuous by their absence. It is an evidently delicate work, and therefore, a testimony of the refinement involved in the conception and execution of his work. Among the works exhibited is Nebula, which is the only one with Japanese paper as support and where precious metals are conspicuous by their absence. It is an evidently delicate work, and therefore, a testimony of the refinement involved in the conception and execution of his work. Refinement and exquisiteness, it is important to emphasize, are omnipresent in Olga de Amaral’s works, since they can be recognized in each one of them, whatever their period and whatever their materials.
In some of the works exhibited, the nature of his craft is more evident than in others. For example, in the splendid Ceremonial Canvases, the thread, emblem of weaving, imposes itself visually, loose, but not free, but rigorously ordered as a container of colors that make visible the chromatic acuity of the artist: in one of these pieces a soft harmony is the outstanding sensual attribute, while in others it is the contrast of strong and defined tones among which the “Klein blue” denotes a clear identification with modernity.
In another work, the blue color suggests a crack in a virgin surface, an indentation reminiscent of the “glory breaks” that often figure in classical art to, through a fiction of perspective, represent the spiritual plane on the earthly plane. Amaral’s work is more about the sensory plane and the spiritual plane, being the total surface the sensory plane that extends inviting the delight of examining it thoroughly, while the crack would be the spiritual plane through which our thoughts escape to realms built with the experiences of each observer.
Another work included, Umbra, or Shadow, refers to the penumbra which, in relation to the plastic arts, enriches the qualities of form and space while enhancing volume and textures. This work seems quieter, more serene, perhaps due to the silver foil that determines the subtlety of the fabrics and therefore their shadows. Other works in which the silver foil imposes its serenity and reflective restraint are also shown.
In most of the works, however, the gold leaf is the main element on the surface and gives the pieces a certain character of “objects of power” worthy of being treasured, but not only for the monetary value of the metal that shines seductively anyway, but for the destiny it has taken in the hands of Olga e Amaral to become art, a conduit to sensitively express ideas and thoughts about the world and life, to sensually respond to intellectual concerns that have undoubtedly fueled her creative reflections.
Nature has been a reference in Olga de Amaral’s work since her beginnings and there have been stages in which her work has made it imperative to think about the leaf litter, the earth, the vegetation. And although only one of the works exhibited in this show has a title related to nature, Forests, nature, organic and inorganic, provides all the raw material for the exhibition. Bosques is represented vertically, which is one of the artist’s favorite forms, and in this case it is reminiscent of Solomonic columns because of the enveloping directions taken by the fabrics.
More descriptive of his production is the title Alquimia, which some of his works bear, since his work is clearly alchemical. The alchemists sought to transmute matter and that is precisely what Olga de Amaral does, she transmutes materials such as gold into art, into something more valuable than gold, because it is the product of human ingenuity.
Since ancient times gold has been linked to mysticism and magical properties have been attributed to it. In the sample, for example. there is a Stela (a memorial monument originally in stone) that displays a sun in clear reference to the polytheism represented by its image. It is not strange then that the Sun, god in many cultures, occupies a preponderant place in the references of his work. The formal creativity they display, together with the mythology of gold, initiate the observer in a mental journey that takes him to ancient Egypt, to pre-Columbian peoples, to medieval goldsmiths, to baroque altars (and even to illegal mining).
In some pieces, the circular shape of the sun, barely hinted at, but nevertheless recognizable, dazzles among the weavings of rows of small linen squares that support the gold leaf and sometimes break rows to accommodate the artist’s designs,
As I said, every time I have the fortune to appreciate Olga de Amaral’s works, I see them differently, as if they had changed surreptitiously. Now I see them as an art whose validity begins in prehistory, but that from fibrous materials the artist has entered the mysterious and enriching paths of contemporary art, making, through her work, clear pronouncements about identity and memory.
Credits to Eduardo Serrano
