“NON PLUS ULTRA” GONZALO BORONDO
In collaboration with 56FILI
Curated by: Chiara Pietropaoli Partners: Studio Volante, 56Fili
EX DOGANA: 12/01 – 04/02 2019
Ex Dogana presents “Non Plus Ultra”, a screen-printing installation on glass by the Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo, realized in collaboration with 56Fili, curated by Chiara Pietropaoli.
From the beginning of his artistic activity Borondo finds in glass an interesting material to explore, a source of original creative possibilities. Over time, glass has become the protagonist of most of his works, created according to a technique originated by the artist. At the base of the process, which takes shape between painting and engraving, the subtraction of the material, the paint applied on the transparent support with brushes and rollers and then scratched away with pointed instruments. It is the absence to represent the elements of reality that abstract from their concrete condition and manifest themselves ethereal, they tell an intimate (and universal) condition that oscillates between certainty and uncertainty, visible and invisible. The poetic of glass, transparent and fragile, stimulates reflections and inspires the subjects that inhabit it, sometimes female figures, nudes, eternal paths, an imposing horse that moves and mutates its nature.
In the last years Borondo has been confronted with matter in a multidisciplinary approach, articulating innovative formal solutions that have combined skills of different areas and have seen the “scratching glass” technique evolve in relation to the artist’s intentions: animating the painting and experimenting screen printing. In his studies he was joined by Arturo Amitrano, founder of 56Fili, whose technical skills, applied in an avant-garde sense, guided Borondo onto new paths.
“Non Plus Ultra” is an unprecedented walk-through silkscreen installation, consisting of fifty two sheets of glass, measuring two meters and fifty centimeters for eighty centimeters, printed on both sides. Two graphic-pictorial images cohabit the space: on one side a column, on the other a man looking backwards with his arms outstretched, which refers to the crucifixion iconography.
“Non Plus Ultra” reflects on the concept of limit, on the sacred need of man to cross the threshold of the known and of logic, to overcome oneself. The spatial limits imposed by the artwork are openings (arches). The limit attracts and rejects, it projects the viewer to infinity, between perspectives and reflections, transparent symbols that merge and get lost, that are confused in the multitude, and multiplied through the serigraphy, raise the questions.
