Al Munro: AFTER BARCELONA

Opening 3pm Saturday 5 September

After Barcelona is an exhibition of paintings on cardboard forms responding to my recent residency at Casa RARO in Barcelona. The works are a response to place – the colour, architecture and geometries of the city – although they remain rooted in the conventions of non-objective abstraction.

As with previous bodies of work, I am interested in exploring the intersection of pattern, colour, geometry and space in painting. Through the construction of shaped and ‘folded’ painting surfaces I seek to disturb and activate the space of the picture plane and create an experience for the viewer which is more dynamic that viewing a 2D painting.

The works in After Barcelona introduce curved geometry and a more sculptural focus to my practice – a direct nod to the architecture and engineering of fin de siècleCatalan architects Lluís Montaner and his pupil Antoni Gaudí. Both used curves as structural and decorative elements, often adding to the complexity of their buildings with heavy ornamentation. Gaudí’s use of catenary curves – the shape made when a chain is suspended from two points – was a particular influence on works-on-paper and cardboard constructions made during the residency.

The colours of buildings in Barcelona are also referenced in the exhibition. Colour is central to my work and often appears in patterns comprising sets of four colours. I chose these to conform to various tones – light, light medium, dark medium and dark. These tonal use of colour creates the illusion of space in my surfaces, and works both with and against the physical form or shape onto which I am painting.  I begin each work by choosing colours which feel, to me, slightly uncomfortable. I then work to resolve the set of four colours in a way that feels balanced. In this way, each work sets me a challenge – a problem to solve – and the resolution doesn’t reveal itself until the last colour is in place. As a result, I don’t know the outcome of a single work until its finished which is both surprising and satisfying.

Thanks to CAPO for supporting my residency through the Waldren Constructions Award, and for Casa RARO for being such great residency hosts.