Painting and Video
By Christian Parra-Duhalde
From the scenic record to the structural interpretation of space, Rafa de Corral has traveled a prolific path of technical and stylistic adventures.
The artist has evolved from an initial focus on architecture, silence, and solitude, positioning himself in neometaphysical perspectives, towards a formal refinement increasingly devoid of narrative suggestions. In this journey, as a material extension of what is virtual in painting, he first delved into sculpture, embodying his fascination with perspective. He then experimented with the superposition of planes and collage. And now, in this context, he proposes a videographic reading of the visual journey to which his painting invites, imprinting it with his personal touch.
Constructed structures serving as testimonies of emptiness, volumes that redefine the notion of space while connoting their matrix enigma, fragments of a fundamental mechanics - his current work positions itself in optical experimentation, aspiring to the synesthesia of the three-dimensional and tactile suggestion of impossible figures. In doing so, he positions himself as an heir to the rational and intuitive postulates of Escher and Penrose, each with their respective semantic and technical interests in visual paradox.
Impossible according to the conventions of stereoscopic vision, De Corral's pieces push the potential of perspective on a plane to the extreme, in a repertoire that melds the ideas of construction, simulation, and illusion. While not exempt from playful intent, it also doesn't shy away from the inherent theoretical exploration in the mediating processes of perception of reality between experience and information. Architectures with a hidden purpose, identifying geometries of the infinite, representations of riddles and physical hypotheses - the work is explained in its exhibition label under the thesis of perpetual motion expressed in the video "Axial Symmetries" as a specification of orders that are neither purely objective nor purely subjective. De Corral highlights this by not relinquishing the notion of context through atmospheric textures, creating a landscape in gestation, making his images a rational event with emotion.
The painter Rafa de Corral brings together around twenty "volumetric representations" in his new exhibition.
EUROPA PRESS NEWS
The artist Rafa de Corral will exhibit, starting from March 7th, at the Sporting Club in Ruzafa, Valencia, an exhibition titled 'From the Possible to the Impossible,' in which he gathers 21 paintings and a video creation made in collaboration with the musician and composer Marcos R. Conde, titled 'Axial Symmetries.' The exhibition compiles a collection of pieces that, in the author's words, are "volumetric representations," displaying "shapes in a timeless space where they coexist with cloudy, stormy, or clear skies, represented from a conical perspective."
Cartel de la muestra de Rafa de Corral.
It is, therefore, a "perceptual game created from a series of impossible figure paintings that move in synchronization with the audio, within an axis of axial symmetry," and it aims to "generate a hypnotic power to evoke different sensations in the viewer." The selected pieces come in various formats, ranging from 40 x 50 centimeters to 50 x 200 meters, and are dated from 2012, 2013, and 2014.
De Corral places his blocks, endowed with a strong metaphysical charge, with a unidirectional point of light projecting a shadow that emulates a closed space, yet they are located in open spaces, which achieves "visual contradictions" to capture the viewer's attention. In his paintings, you can observe almost sculptural architectural elements emerging from asphalt sometimes eroded by rain or wind, skies filled with threatening or friendly but always powerful clouds that never leave anyone indifferent.
In this case, the artist redirects his discourse towards an inner universe where mere representation takes a back seat to give free rein to spaces imbued with a strong metaphysical charge. A refined technique in which the author explores from a formal standpoint the visual textures, chromatic balance, and the composition of volumes situated in a timeless space that borders on scenography, transporting the viewer to an imaginary world where geometric drawing, sharpened by dramatic vanishing points, and the passionate treatment of the work go hand in hand.
The exhibition will be open to the public until March 28th at 5 Sevilla Street in the Ruzafa neighborhood.
AWARDS Recipient of numerous national and international awards, Rafa de Corral, born in Bilbao in 1967 and based in Valencia, has held numerous exhibitions both within and outside the country, in cities such as Paris, London, Frankfurt, Verona, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Valencia. Among his award-winning works, notable prizes include the first prize in the Kunst in der Stadt painting competition in Frankfurt, the first prize in the IX Biennial of Painting and Sculpture in Quart de Poblet, and the XXIX Bancaixa Painting Prize with his piece 'The Hybrid City.'