EL VIENTO, Retirarse es lo primero

María Gómez - EL VIENTO, Retirarse es lo primero

Galería Marta Cervera is pleased to announce ‘EL VIENTO, Retirarse es lo primero’, the first solo exhibition by María Gómez at the gallery. The show will be on view from April 17th until June 5th, 2021.

María Gómez (Salamanca, 1953) lives and works in Madrid. Her work has been exhibited at The Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), The Velázquez Palace (Madrid), Museo de Bellas Artes (Málaga), among many others. Her work is part of important collections such as The Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo (Madrid), Bank of Spain Collection (Madrid), BBVA Collection (Madrid), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Patio Herreriano (Valladolid), Real Maestranza Collection (Seville), Marugame Hirai Museum (Marugame, Japan), International Modern Art Museum (Cairo), Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Collection (Rome), Museum Für Kommunikation (Stuttgart).

"In my work, I try to act in a very simple way. I also try not to set goals for myself. I prepare the canvas and the paints, and act until the painting at some point starts to work on its own. From that moment on, I have the feeling that it is not me who paints, but rather that it has been painted, with laws that I keep discovering and naming as they appear". -M.G.

María Gómez’s work drifts away from her Spanish contemporaries coinciding with long journeys through Italy, Greece and Egypt. The influence of early Renaissance classics such as Giotto and Piero della Francesca, as well as contemporary masters like Morandi and Balthus, stands aside a rebellious stance against other artistic trends of the moment, claiming the rapprochement between the past and the present within a tradition of her own, deeply rooted in the Mediterranean, where speed slows down, and the past is inhabited and coexisting with the most immediate present. In this way, she delves into painting, architecture and landscape, as well as a narrative restlessness, since she also writes and is a devoted reader.

Finding contemporaneity in her work is a subtle process that goes along the narrative function and the pictorial and philosophical aspects. Her works open a door into “the other side”. Her paintings are often filled with characters and imagery that juxtaposes fiction and reality, taking us to that place that every human being has perceived at some point through introspection and deep observation.

The works in this exhibition by María Gómez were mostly painted during last year, reflecting the reality of the pandemic and accentuating daily changes and uncertainty. Situations in which lost adult characters hold onto children to guide them, requesting for something they lack. In other works, the act of meditation or the rest of the siesta are pointed out. There are some large format paintings where her use of a more vivid than usual color palette stands out. Along the show accompanies a long frieze composed by a series of portraits painted on yellow pages from old telephone guides. Made up with more blurred colors and paint strokes, those are beings with a more psychological than physical nature.