From 12 November, the Álvaro Alcázar gallery presents the exhibition “Un espacio”, a group show that revolves around the broad term “space”. A total of sixteen artists, including painters, sculptors and photographers, come together here to show a space that is significant to them or, simply, their vision of this concept, which manifests itself in multiple dimensions: from the inner space of the human psyche to the vast exterior of nature and the urban environment.

For this exhibition, the gallery has counted on artists such as Jose Cháfer, Kepa Garraza, Guillem Nadal, Antonio Murado, Eduardo Arroyo, Rafael Canogar, Peter Krauskopf, Mari Puri Herrero, Juan Gopar and José Luis Serzo. Other guest artists, such as the Sevillian artists Paz Juristo and Anuca Aísa, María Carrión, Jude Castel and the Dutch artist Pim Palsgraaf, will also be present.

One of the ‘spaces’ to which the artists in this exhibition have most resorted is the exterior. For Juan Gopar, for example, the island of Lanzarote is his living space and everything that happens there is incorporated into his art. The lichens of the Corona volcano, a place where the artist frequently visits, are the source of inspiration for the work presented. For Eduardo Arroyo, “la Muezca”, a mountain located in front of his house in Robles de Laciana, was a special place that he painted on numerous occasions and at different times of the year, to the point that his wish was to be buried with a view of it. Nature is for David Nash his ‘space’ par excellence, for all his work makes reference to it, or uses elements of natural space to create her sculptures and drawings, as in Castle I. Jardín azul, by Mari Puri Herrero takes us, as in most of her work, to important places in the artist’s life, such as Menagaray, Bilbao or Madrid, places she uses to illustrate her paintings.

The photography of landscapes and urban scenes, such as those of the Seville underground or the buildings of New York, confronts us with the dynamics of public space. These images capture everyday life. Through the lens, the photographer becomes a narrator who transforms a simple instant into a visual narrative. This is the case of Paz Juristo, who presents an image of a New York skyscraper, and Anuca Aisa, who contributes a work from her series ‘subsoils’. María Carrión, also a photographer, captures in this case the majesty of waterfalls, evoking a natural space where water and landscape merge, generating a sensation of calmness.

Jude Castel french artist uses his particular use of the blue Bic pen to represent different urban and architectural spaces that catch his eye on his frequent trips. On this occasion, the exhibition space of the Botín Centre in Santander captures his interest, due to its imposing architecture. Antonio Murado explores the concept of ‘exterior space’ through landscapes that oscillate between the figurative and the abstract. His landscapes are a fundamental and recognisable part of his celebrated career, in which he investigates with different materials to achieve surprising results through glazes.

For the Mallorcan Guillem Nadal ‘a space’ is introspective. Through the creation of curved forms in his work, the idea of an island underlies it. However, it does not refer to the island where Nadal was born and lives, but implies a sentimental journey as a metaphor for life, a path that returns to the starting point and finally, to the possibility of building your own island. Peter Krauskopf focuses on the space of his works. In his ‘Shadow Pieces’ he investigates the spaces of light and shadow that he leaves in his works. With their plasticity, Krauskopf’s paintings inescapably assign one side or the other to the space in front of them. Most of the time, the painter – and later the viewer – is placed in a position from which the light seems to emanate beyond the canvas.

In the three-dimensional field, Jose Cháfer’s work stands out for its study of the figure and the curve in space. His hanging sculptures defy gravity and transform the perception of physical space. Living sculptures that move, produce shadows, giving life to the space they occupy. For his part, Kepa Garraza, in his facet as a sculptor, presents the 3D printed figure of a manifestant, corresponding to his ‘Let’s Set the World on Fire’ series. In it, the artist explores the streets as a space for protest and vindication of his ‘urban heroes’. Dutch artist Pim Palsgraaf immerses himself in empty spaces: old corridors and roofs on the verge of collapse, where nature intervenes to take over. His work is inspired by the decay and irregularities of the city, exploring the discord between nature and urbanity. Palsgraaf’s work is the result of an investigation into the erosion of the city center.

For José Luis Serzo, a space is the theater, as is evident in ‘Sr. Teatro Rum’. The theatrical references in his works are infinite, whether explicitly or through curtains, masks or different costumes. This space connects him directly with his childhood, as he grew up backstage with his mother, a theater director, and began to generate scenographies and worlds from his first steps.

Finally, in the 1990s, Rafael Canogar used glued paper to create his works, which is significantly related to the concept of space. In these pieces, Canogar plays with three-dimensionality and two-dimensionality, creating pieces that seem to interact with the space that surrounds them. The glued paper allows the works to expand and transform, generating textures and shapes that alter the perception of space.

All together, these pieces show us that space is not just empty, but its a dynamic element that influences our emotions, perceptions and relationships. The exploration of space in contemporary art invites us to question not only how we occupy the world, but also how the world occupies us.

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