Anibal Catalan

TSL / Monumental Debris
September 21, 2021

Anibal Catalan's work maintains a strong link with architectural thought. His training in this discipline permeates his artistic proposal, in which he integrates reflections on various buildings, their spaces and above all their structures. His works integrate images that reveal the inner souls of constructions, understanding said structures as geometric figures.

The Seven Lamps (TSL) series is based on an investigation inspired by the homonymous book written by John Ruskin in the mid-19th century. In it Ruskin develops seven principles of architecture: sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life, memory and obedience. In the TSL Catalan series he has managed to build a heterogeneous language in which he integrates painting, photography, drawing and sculpture, eroding the border between these genres.

Within Catalan's trajectory, this project maintains his characteristic style, however, we find a new perspective where it allows certain characteristics of the genres with which he works to appear, such as pictorial gestures. It is also very remarkable the use of snapshots and their treatment, where the emulsion is used as an element to obtain abstract forms that resemble monuments.

Josefa Ortega
Mexico City, September 2021