The long and interesting trajectory of sculpture by Isidro Blasco, between Spain and the United States, tells us about pieces that relate the sculpture and the architecture from different levels and forms. His residence in New York City means that a large part of his works pay, and shown, special attention to this city.
His creation process has always involved a deconstruction of a reality, which he subsequently manipulates and transforms with different techniques. His approach to that reality is produced in a partial and fragmented way, by using a series of photographic shots as a method of capturing the space, in this case of the “skyway” or elevated subway in Brooklyn.
The initial photographs captured by Isidro Blasco, far from becoming the protagonists, become the mortar with which he builds his sculptures. The shots (fragments of the observed reality) are manipulated in their colours and fragmented again before their partial printing. The final composition of it, supported by a rear support structure (as protagonist as the first resulting set that the observer sees), builds a new reality that also surrounds the viewer, and that in the case of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum is especially intentional.
A meta-reality is created through the composition of fragments, enveloping the viewer, and inviting the viewer to make a second reading through the three-dimensional wooden slatted structure that supports it. A complex world of intersections that excites the imagination in a reality parallel to the one initially shown. A reality that does not pretend to be hyperreal, that actually creates a new reality that deceives those who observe it.
Brooklyn Bridge by Isidro Blasco. Photograph by Isidro Blasco
Brooklyn Bridge by Isidro Blasco. Photograph by Isidro Blasco
After the Metareality the Hyperreality.
The rest of the seven sections of the exhibition propose a review of the genre through a set of masterpieces showing some of the most representative themes of easel painting. The chronological arc used in the exhibition covers an extensive route that goes from works from the 15th to the 21st century. A well-cared for and surprisingly interesting set, presenting the works ordered by subjects and settings, regardless of their performance date, in order to highlight the continuity of the genre, which continues to this day.
The exhibition is presented as reading through time with pieces that are trompe l'oeil, according to its curators Guillermo Solana and Mar Borobia. A set of excellent works by great masters, who intend to deceive the viewer's eye, is presented through a critical vision.
The exhibition is organized into the following sections:
1- Staging, dedicated to still life;
2- Figures, frames and limits, on deception through the painted frame;
3-Holes for the curious, representations of niches, openings or cabinets with objects that deceive the eye of the beholder;
4-Fake walls: boards and walls, converted into stages to exhibit objects that show the artist's expertise;
5-Perfect disorder, dedicated to artist corners and quodlibet, trompe l'oeil subgenres;
6-Call to the senses, with compositions whose main theme is sculptures and flowers;
7-American renewal and its wake, dedicated to the innovators of the genre in the United States and their influence, and
8-Modern trompe l'oeil, with pieces that stand out for showing the ability and imagination of their authors to surprise, with special attention to the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition ends with a work by the sculptor Isidro Blasco, expressly commissioned to close the tour.
2- Figures, frames and limits, on deception through the painted frame;
3-Holes for the curious, representations of niches, openings or cabinets with objects that deceive the eye of the beholder;
4-Fake walls: boards and walls, converted into stages to exhibit objects that show the artist's expertise;
5-Perfect disorder, dedicated to artist corners and quodlibet, trompe l'oeil subgenres;
6-Call to the senses, with compositions whose main theme is sculptures and flowers;
7-American renewal and its wake, dedicated to the innovators of the genre in the United States and their influence, and
8-Modern trompe l'oeil, with pieces that stand out for showing the ability and imagination of their authors to surprise, with special attention to the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition ends with a work by the sculptor Isidro Blasco, expressly commissioned to close the tour.
