Monday, November 16, 2009

Abstract Art | Georges Vantongerloo in Madrid | Travel blog Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and Madrid

“I don’t understand it”… Such reactions are usually heard in the corridors of abstract art museums. This word is often synonymous with ugly because the public does not usually appreciate single shapes, colours and volumes, but prefer human figures represented in real spaces. Forget for a moment what you see and just concentrate on what you feel, so you can enjoy Georges Vantongerloo’s work – a successor of Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, founders of abstract art together with Vassily Kandinsky. Discover the work of this sculptor, painter, architect and theorist – Belgian Georges Vantongerloo (1886-1965) in the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid, a unique opportunity to ease your frustration with the abstraction.

georges-vantongerloo

The titles of the paintings will help you get an idea of the main concerns of the artist: Construction in the sphere (1917), Interaction of Colour (1917-1919), Cosmic Elements (1946) and The Comet (1962). More than 80 works made between 1917 and 1965 will be on show until February 25th, 2010 and will try to help us understand the beauty and meaning of abstract art. Do not some coloured boxes separated by some black lines, inspire you? Sure! But if you think about it, your home furniture is basic geometric shapes, large or small, occupying an area and creating energies in the room.

The researches of the De Stijl group (the Dutch Style) of the 20s tried to achieve the purity of art, the mathematical structure of the universe and an expression of universal harmony of nature. Are you lost in space? Perfect, because this is abstract art, a cosmic phenomenon, infinite and invisible to the eyes! This way, Kandinsky for example, tried to represent the music partition on his canvas, with shapes, colours and rhythms, because “life is characterized by the vibration”. Without vibration, there is no life. The entire world is subject to this law, says an abstract slogan. A heartbeat vibration would be the first vibration…

The exhibition shows Vantongerloo’s first period when his main concerns are emptiness, silence and the inability to explain the future. Radiation, radioactivity, electromagnetism and the attraction and repulsion are his favourite topics. Thanks to pure forms, from emptiness and to humour, the artist manages to reach his goal, and after the Second World War, focuses on the Plexiglas and paintings with curved lines. Artists are not insensitive to world disasters: therefore, they seek a way to express their suffering, worries and frustrations.

Then Georges Vantongerloo directs his research towards the application of mathematical theory in modern art, which has nothing to do with surrealism. If you still don’t understand Vantongerloo’s art, check out “Rodchenko and Popov. Defining Constructivism”, another exhibition at the Reina Sofia Museum dealing with this dazzling avant-garde painting tendency of the beginning of the twentieth century: the abstraction.

Don´t be afraid to come and test your sensitivity to abstract art, as it will surely amaze you. The fantastic exhibition “Georges Vantongerloo: An infinite yearning” is an opportunity to experiment with new sensations and to come to the Spanish capital! Rent the best apartments in Madrid, comfortable and cheap!

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