César Manrique returns to Lanzarote in a solo exhibition that will bring together 36 paintings created by the artist during the period between 1950 and 1957. The works, from private collections in Gran Canaria, Madrid, Tenerife, Santiago de Compostela, Soria, Zaragoza and Lanzarote, reflect the training stage of the modern artist. The exhibition's journey is also a journey through the growing modernist renovation of an innovator who moved away from his academic influences adopted during his Fine Arts studies in Madrid.
It has been more than 10 years since a solo exhibition by César Manrique was presented. The Foundation, which bears his name, offers the opportunity to learn about his creation and the insular worldview of his creative world, in which, "he created a visual and poetic mythology of the Island", according to Fernando Gómez Aguilera, curator of the exhibition. The foundation has carried out extensive research that has made it possible to combine photographs of the artist with the works he created. José Juan Ramírez, president of the Foundation, explained that the review of Manrique's plastic work was an objective that the Foundation addressed in the mid-1990s with the start of the cataloging of his painting. This update allowed us to select the works that make up the exhibition.
During this stage, the "monotype" stands out in his works, a technique that offers him the possibility of investigating textures and deepening his vocation as a great colorist. This exhibition completes the review of his painting that began in a retrospective that the Valencian Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) dedicated to him in 2005, on the period 1958-1992.
"César Manrique 1950-1957" reflects an evolution in the artist's work, in which a growing iconography of the Island and an influence of Cubism to the detriment of the figure are identified. From this Friday it is open to the public until September 10, and then tour the towns of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from September 20 to October 21 and La Laguna, between December 14, 2006 and January 31, 2007.
Fernando Gómez Aguilera took advantage of the presentation to draw attention to public entities in relation to the recovery and protection of César Manrique's heritage in Lanzarote. His works were not only closely related to the insular imaginary, but he also created sculptures and urban projects for the Island. Manrique already spoke at the time of the need to create an insular awareness of what urban planning should be, according to the curator of the exhibition.
