Context Art Miami, sister exposition of Art Miami takes place during Basel Art in Midtown Miami.Very convenient for me it is just next to the office. For 3 days I spend my lunch time there looking at all those emerging new and mid career artists and their Gallery.
When I saw Magdalena Murua‘s work I was very intrigued, a bit surprised. It brings me back so many memories, I was confused and could not identify at first this feeling. Those memories were a mix between my love for comic books, Tintin, Lucky Luke, Tarzan…and a kind of Deja Vu sensation in Victor Vasarely paintings but with a Pop Art touch and attitude that brings you curiosity and infinite pleasure to discover, understand or read. A mix between comic books, visual kinetic, optical illusions perfectly and geometrically composed with an amazing number of colors. While doing my research I learnt a word, Gestalt: an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. Lovely!!
Let’s be clear before I continue. I have no pretension to be a Critic, actually most of the time I never understand what they are saying. Same for food or wine critics, at the end you are the one who is enjoying it and it matters only to you if you like it or not. Interesting enough to have ideas of why it is nice/good or not but please let me be the final judge. If you like it it is enough, so many people pretend to like something without liking it, it is pathetic. I had to, sorry.
I was saying, lost in between my memories of Tintin and my visit of Gordes (super nice little village in Provence, close to Avignon, France) where Mr Vasarely used to have a museum, I started to discover and read Magdalena’s works. She is cutting comic books in hundreds of pieces, re-organize all those pieces in a kind of scientific organized collage, while playing with colors and composition…chiquito y suma as she tried to explain :).
It is fascinating as you get closer to see and read a complete new story, all the characters remains the same and they are all organized in a new suit of events. I love those paintings, or better say collages, especially when you get lost looking at them and millions of stories reach your mind. It makes me travel and dream…What else right?
Last month I traveled to Buenos Aires for work, I had to meet Magdalena. She is Argentinean, Che!! :). It was very nice, a bit too short but very interesting to listen to her and see some of her works. I had to ask her to complete the Proust questionnaire :).
I really like what she is doing, she is really sweet with her both feet on the ground, No better recipe for success.
Magdalena is already represented by Now Contemporary Art Gallery in Miami.
Proust Questionnaire: Magdalena Murua
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? Mindfulness
- What is your greatest fear? Heights
- What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
- What is the trait you most deplore in others?
- Which living person do you most admire?
- What is your greatest extravagance? I’m not extravagant, I think
- What is your current state of mind? Disorder
- What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
- On what occasion do you lie? I’m not lying, I’m very bad at it.
- What do you most dislike about your appearance?
- Which living person do you most despise?
- What is the quality you most like in a man?
- What is the quality you most like in a woman?
- Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Everything is fine
- What or who is the greatest love of your life? They know who they are
- When and where were you happiest?
- Which talent would you most like to have? The talent to play piano
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
- What do you consider your greatest achievement?
- If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
- Where would you most like to live? Where I can see mountains
- What is your most treasured possession? None, I tried to be detached to material possession
- What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
- What is your favorite occupation?
- What is your most marked characteristic?
- What do you most value in your friends? Their friendship
- Who are your favorite writers? I have a lot, my favorite are from Science Fiction
- Who is your hero of fiction? Magneto
- Which historical figure do you most identify with?
- Who are your heroes in real life?
- What are your favorite names?
- What is it that you most dislike?
- What is your greatest regret?
- How would you like to die? Peacefully
- What is your motto? It is now or never
Thank you Magdalena!!