Madrid-based artist Nacho Martín Silva presents his recent work in his second solo exhibition at the Max Estrella Gallery, Paraisos de Papel (Paper Paradises). Particularly interested in the idea of representation and the issues involved in reading an image—translating it, analyzing it, and constructing it from a pictorial perspective—Martín Silva explores the themes of landscape and nature. He pays special attention to nature understood from a modern perspective; nature that has been turned into a spectacle and, at the same time, a subject of observation. As stated in the text accompanying the video the artist created during the lockdown for the project #aunmetroymedio, launched by Tania Pardo and Manuel Segade for CA2M, from which the works now presented originated, “representation denies the landscape and art imitates nature.” Fragments of works from art history, visual documentation on the history of taxidermy, and natural history museums compose the material that feeds the imagination of this exhibition.
“On December 4, 1908, Henri Rousseau wrote a letter to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire regarding the portrait of Marie Laurencin and Apollinaire that he was painting. In it, he says: ‘Don’t forget the flowers for the poet’s carnation.’ Rousseau had intended to paint some carnations in the foreground of the portrait, but by mistake, he ended up painting a series of wallflowers instead.
The reason for Rousseau’s confusion could well be his unfamiliarity with the carnation flower, combined with his impatient desire to start painting a picture in which he had high hopes, leading him to not verify the type of flowers he had taken as his models for representation. In April 1909, Rousseau painted a second version of the painting to correct the issue of the wallflowers and try to overcome criticism of the first version for its lack of resemblance to the subjects. The reasons for Rousseau’s error in representing the flowers are speculative, a fantasy constructed from a fact. This anecdote and my unverified hypothesis about the reasons behind it bring to mind the first time I saw Rousseau’s paintings in person. I was familiar with his painting through reproductions in art books, but my experience in front of his paintings exceeded any expectations. The exuberance of colors and forms captivated me so much that any of the many anomalies in proportions and resemblance to the images serving as models went unnoticed.
My interest in the French painter focuses on the idea of experiencing the real through his representations and then transforming it into a pictorial event. My approach to landscape is not based on scientific rigor but on nature as an image, and how this image, when translated into the pictorial medium, reveals its own issues. Both the paintings in the exhibition and the videos presented share an interest in the fragmentary and the multiplicity of focal points. These are paintings filled with interferences that do not allow for an easy reception of what is displayed.
The works presented use fragments of art history and visual documentation on the history of taxidermy and the construction of dioramas for natural history museums as models. Outdoor spaces are constructed indoors, the video image of the real serves as a support for the static image of representation, firsthand experience of an overwhelming and sublime nature by painters like William Turner is replaced by printer paper and fluorescent lights, and the idea of representing landscape in childhood functions as a sincere horizon in a sea of fictions. Nothing is evident; everything is subject to doubt. Representation is the model, and the real experience, whatever it may be, is the end.”
Nacho Martín Silva, septiembre de 2024
.
Nacho Martín Silva vive y trabaja en Madrid. En sus pinturas no hay un sentido único de lectura. La forma de enfrentarse a la traducción entre imagen fotográfica y pictórica marcan el camino conceptual del artista. Desde 2014 trabaja con lienzos fragmentados, que le permiten poner distancia entre el archivo visual que toma como
Nacho Martín Silva lives and works in Madrid. In his paintings, there is no single way to read them. The way of confronting the translation between photographic and pictorial images defines the artist’s conceptual path. Since 2014, he has worked with fragmented canvases, which allow him to create distance between the visual archive he uses as a model and its representation, focusing attention on the different parts that make up the images and their translation, not necessarily figurative or abstract, but eminently pictorial. In his most recent work, the painter reflects on his relationship with nature in contrast to his usual environment, the studio interior.
Martín Silva has exhibited solo at the Centro de Arte de Alcobendas, Spring Break Art Show New York, and the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, Mallorca, among others. He has participated in group exhibitions at museums, galleries, and international institutions such as Espacio 23 Miami, CA2M in Móstoles, Patio Herreriano in Valladolid, CICA Palais El Abdelliya (Tunisia), CCEMX in Mexico City, Spring Break Art Show New York, Fundación Juan March in Mallorca, Espacio Odeón in Bogotá, Centro Párraga in Murcia, Centro Centro Madrid, Matadero Madrid, and CGAC in Santiago de Compostela, among others. He has been awarded the Premio Pilar Juncosa y Sotheby’s for Artistic Creation, the Visual Arts Support from the Community of Madrid, the Estampa-Casa de Velázquez Award, and the Absolut-Jugada a 3bandas Award. His work is present in various collections, including Jorge Pérez, Fundación Cristina Masaveu Peterson, DKV, Fundación La Caixa, and the Community of Madrid, among others.
In October, CAB in Burgos will dedicate a solo exhibition to the artist’s work.