Descripción de la Exposición Travelers in Time presents large scale photographs by Lluis Barba based on well known masterworks by Bosh, Brueghel, Van Dyke, Raphael, Goya and Gauguin. Barba inhabits these iconic paintings with present-day celebrities and influential people, as well as anonymous visitors. The new works are plagued by ordinary iconographies, such as McDonalds signs that share a new created virtual space with artworks by renowned modern masters such as Magritte, DeKooning and Miro. The exhibition highlights the surrealist nature of Barba's manufactured worlds by inviting the visitor to enter a new reality occupied by the three dimensional steel sculptures of German artist Herbert Mehler that are at once organic and geometric. The roots of Mehler's sculptures come from nature - the plant world of fruits and seeds. The objects Mehler creates transform the weight of metal into soft light shapes that at once are grounded yet seem capable of becoming airborne with the slightest breeze. The introduction of new technologies has long been important in the development of the visual arts. Advancements in technology have provided new tools and materials adopted by artists since ancient times. Contemporary Catalan artist Lluis Barba in his series Travelers in Time, employs digital technology to fuse traditional oil painting with digitally created imagery from the 21 st century. Barba's language of critical and social views contrasts with the language employed by the old masters in their historical and grand scale works which he comments on by incorporating these famous paintings as the first layer in his own works.. Even though many of the subjects and themes of discourse are universal, they are addressed by the artists from their own perspectives and from the social and popular concerns of their own times. In his work Barba formulates a subjective revision of the art of the past and creates connections between historical characters and contemporary personalities. By bringing iconic masterpieces up to date with contemporary mores and figures Barba invites us to reconsider the timeless nature of the great paintings themselves, and to reflect on the timeless nature of that which we hold most deeply - our emotions and basic concerns of daily life. Like the paradoxes created by surrealist masters, Barba conceives unusual compositions with stereotypes, such as military personnel with flower printed uniforms, with the goal of de-mystifying images associated with aggression. Barba also inserts the presence of fictional heroes, which comment on the perpetuation of classical myths in our contemporary society. By focusing attention on such details as well as on the grand themes of the masters, the artist hopes to influence our perception of broadcast and print media, making us less inclined to manipulation. Tourists are fundamental in Barba's artwork. They are time travelers photographing museum artworks from inside instead of from the exterior. By inserting themselves into the picture these new inhabitants become a living part of the artwork, challenging the notions of 'real' and 'virtual' time and space. Barba says: 'I take out of context the elements of a reality to locate them in another one, I use irony and subliminal messages as a parody for our society. Formally, I use black and white as the past and color as the present, over photography paper or Diasec. For the installations I work with optical fiber, video projection, sculpture of photography...' 'I address the reason for the conflicts more embedded in our society: alienation, isolation, globalization, ethnic merges, massive consumption and the lost of identity by the barcode in the fashion of a tattoo...' 'I develop a revision of art partial and suggestive creating an interrelationship among individuals from the worlds of culture, such as artists, curators, cinema directors, clergy, politicians, characters from our social reality like indigents, emarginated peoples, immigrants and the ones generated by the star system, like Kate Moss, Madonna, Lady Gaga or Paris Hilton.' Lluís Barba lives and works in Barcelona, Spain where he studied Art and Design. In 2011 Barba was featured artist at the Toronto Contact Photography Festival, where he presented the first works in his Travelers in Time series. Barba has exhibited in solo and group shows at major museums, galleries and art fairs worldwide since 1984. His works are in Museum collections in Spain, Japan, Germany, France, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Cuba and Egypt. Herbert Mehler was born in Steinau, Germany, and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg. He has participated in international exhibitions at museums, galleries, and public venues in Germany, Canada and the US.
Exposición. 17 nov de 2024 - 18 ene de 2025 / The Ryder - Madrid / Madrid, España
Formación. 23 nov de 2024 - 29 nov de 2024 / Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) / Madrid, España
