Starting Wednesday, September 7, Ruth Benzacar Art Gallery presents Rómulo Macció with this exhibition that brings together a wide range of works from 1957 to 2015, incorporating a body of previously unseen pieces that will be shown to the public for the first time.
Paintings and drawings have been grouped by Batkis, linking recurring interests in Macció’s work: a unique universe tied to forms and a sensuality in the use of color that emerges from his early works and continues through to his latest creations.
Curated by: Laura Batkis
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Rómulo Macció.
Pinturas y obra gráfica 1957-2015 [Paintings and graphic art 1957-2015]
When we look retrospectively at the production of Rómulo Macció, it is remarkable to see that certain themes and motifs run through all his periods. He is an artist difficult to classify, given his prolific and eclectic nature.
The idea behind this exhibition is to explore a selection from his body of work, from 1957 to 2015, highlighting its variety and grouping together the approaches he developed—connecting the interests that reappear at different moments.
The existential anguish of his neo-figurative period (1961–1964), with faces crossed by lines, resurfaces in later works such as Vértigo (2013).
Flat colors, a sign of his background in advertising, reappear in the “creatures” from his early period in Boa, the surrealist group associated with the magazine directed by poet Julio Llinás.
The sensuality of color, with harmonies from a cool, bluish palette, can be found in the works he created as part of The Seven Abstract Painters. Pairs of chromatic ranges—like yellow and red—recur at various points throughout his career.
Looking at the whole, one recognizes a singular approach: the Macció Universe, which conveys an immense joy in painting.
We also present previously unseen graphic works from the 1960s—drawings and temperas depicting apocalyptic scenes, references to a plague, and faces that in some cases are based on works from art history, such as Munch’s The Scream.
Macció is a free artist who explores all the possibilities of painting, imbuing his work with a depth of meaning that continues to inspire new interpretations within the framework of contemporary art.
Laura Batkis, curator.
