Mariana Villafane

Synchromatismos I

Following a visit to the Paris studio of Yves Klein in 1957, Bernard Aubertin was inspired to follow in Klein’s footsteps and passionately work within the field of monochromy, a styl...

Mobile reliefs with moving patterns operated by motors that alter space-colour ratios, initially in black and white and later colour. Very slowly, the parts changed, were separated a...

Since the 1940s, the Egyptian painter Hamed Abdalla is not only a visionary pioneer of modern art for the global south and Arab countries; he is also one of the first of his generation to envision painting as political art and activism. The current display focuses on a specific time of defeat and disillusion for a whole generation of Arab artists and intellectuals, in the aftermath of the “Six Days War” led by Israel and their allies (a war title which a lot of Arab activists consider propagandist, preferring to call it “The Defeat of 1967” or simply the “June 1967 War”). This persistent ideological wound became the symbol of failed dreams for the “Arab Nation” or Arab states alliances – including the short but emblematic Egyptian-Syrian achievement of the United Arab Republic. Another major failure, to which Abdalla will respond through the paintings on display here, is the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat program of “opening up” (Infitah) the Egyptian economy and give way to political compromise with the US and Israel – Abdalla assimilating this period to a vast state of Coma for all Arab people and territories. In a collective statement by a group of Egyptian artists exiled in Paris (including Abdalla), published in the Egyptian local journal Al-Dustur, on 5 December 1977, one can read: “This disaster is far greater than the defeat of June 1967. Rather, it approaches the scale of the disaster that took place in 1948 (…) To destroy the Arab people’s noble three decades-long struggle against imperialism and Zionism (…) Sadat is exploiting the stifling economic crisis that Egypt is currently facing (…) We must resist this betrayal of our nation or be crushed under the wheels of global imperialism for generations to come.” The works presented here reflect Abdalla’s transformation of the Hurrufiyyah aesthetics, to achieve his own way of “Arab Letterism”. It claims for a deeply experimental, non-decorative, politically committed and non-commercial use of the Arabic letter...

Born to an Italian family in 1915 in La Plata, a province of Buenos Aires, Luis Tomasello's first work experience was with his father, a bricklayer, carpenter, and painter. As a teenager, he began his artistic studies by taking evening drawing classes before joining the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón in Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1938. Two years later, he enrolled at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova, where he studied until 1944. In the mid-1940s, young artists in Buenos Aires were challenging representational traditions in art; Tomasello met painters Emilio...

French painter, sculptor, engraver, James Coignard was born in Tours in 1925. He lived and worked in Antibes, in the Maritime Alps, and he died in March 2008. Coignard began his studies in 1948 at the School of Fine Arts in Nice; however, his journey as an artist began in the Côte d'Azur, where he settled. In fact, Coignard traveled a lot, living for a period from 1985 to 1988 in New Orleans. His artistic career was marked by collective and personal exhibitions both in France and abroad (Sweden, Switzerland, the United States...), where he enjoyed fame and recognition. Until the 1960s, his artistic development was characterized by an expressionistic style; then Coignard found himself moving towards an abstract one with random spots, regular shapes, typographical characters, and mixed media backgrounds. He was a painter but also a sculptor, who experimented with bronze and with glass. His work as an engraver was also quite well-known. James Coignard created his first glass sculpture in the 1970s at the Fucina degli Angeli. Only later, after meeting Adriano Berengo...

Helen Khal grew up in a Lebanese family in Pennsylvania. In 1946, she went to live in Lebanon for two years, studying painting at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut, and meeting the artists Shafic Abboud...

Crystal Acrylic, Color Pigments and Aluminium Hand signed and dated by the artist at the back, France 2021

In a captivating new collection, Alex Guofeng Cao dazzles audiences with his unique twist on instantly recognizable images. Inspired by history and pop culture, Cao manipulates one iconic image to create another in his extraordinary large-scale works. From a distance, the pieces appear to be a singular image but as the viewer approaches closer, you find each work is a masterfully crafted compilation of minute detailed images layered next to one another, creating a mesmerizing and hypnotic optical illusion. Cao meticulously places each smaller image to form a dynamic gradient from dark to light which tricks the eye into seeing one image. This expertise in contrast is exemplified in all of his works, from striking black and white pieces to stunning explorations in high-definition color. He cleverly mirrors this visual contrast in his subject matter by subverting the main image and creating a dialogue between the macrocosm and microcosm. Take the piece, Ali vs Armstrong; here we see the iconic image of Muhammed Ali’s victory composed of thousands of tiny portraits...

This is a one of a kind original painting by southern California artist, Kathleen Kane Murrell. Its dimensions are 36" x 48" x 2". It is acrylic on canvas, glass beads, Japanese pape...

This is a one of a kind original painting by southern California artist, Kathleen Kane Murrell. Its dimensions are 52" x 40" x 2". It is acrylic on canvas, glass beads, paper, plaste...

This is a one of a kind original painting by southern California artist, Kathleen Kane Murrell. Its dimensions are 40" x 40" x 2". It is acrylic and oil on panel, painted, plexiglass...

This is a one of a kind original painting by southern California artist, Kathleen Kane Murrell. Its dimensions are 30" x 24" x 2" (HxWxD). It is painted plexiglass overlay, mulberry ...