| Lorenzo Valverde
Espai 13. Part of the Figuracions de l’espai (Figurations of Space) series
5 April–6 May 1990
Opening: Thursday 5 April at 7.30 p.m.
Lorenzo Valverde (Barcelona, 1961) presents Sótano Iniciático (Initiatory Basement) in Espai 13 at the Fundació Joan Miró as part of the Figuracions de l’espai series. Scepticism and doubt distance him from the traditional parameters of current artistic movements, while also placing him in a state of constant struggle – one that serves as a continuous stimulus for his creativity.
Engaging with Espai 13 has been both a challenge and a catalyst in his artistic practice. The enclosed, basement-level space naturally evokes an analogy with the deepest and most hidden layers of the self. Sótano Iniciático can be understood as a metaphor for the subconscious – a space where the most concealed impulses reside. Within this setting, two opposing forces or concepts are at play: life, representing birth and new beginnings, and death, symbolising the rupture of old structures. This conceptual tension is physically manifested through two wooden panels, each evoking memory, positioned face to face across the walls of Espai 13.
The installation’s atmosphere is further shaped by dim, diffused lighting, which, as Valverde describes, serves as “the poetic mediation between intuition, form and emotion – presented as ‘another consciousness’, as a question, and above all, as a challenge to today’s social models.” |
