Exhibition of Sculpture by Blanca Muñoz Opens at Marlborough Chelsea
NEW YORK, NY.- Marlborough Gallery presents an exhibition of sculpture by Blanca Muñoz opens at Marlborough Chelsea on November 19 and continues through December 19, 2009. Muñoz lives in Madrid, where her work is recognized for ethereal forms that seem untouched by gravitational pull. The sculpture in this exhibition, her New York debut, is inspired by the shapes of nature, specifically the development and bifurcation of vegetables and plants. The sculptures can take the form of large free-standing compositions as well as wall-mounted reliefs, their lightness belying the medium of stainless steel, frequently inlaid with perforated, cobalt blue stainless steel plate. Muñoz’ recent commissions include sculptures for the acclaimed Norman Foster Tower in Madrid and the historic center of Malaga.
Blanca Munoz, "Salome", 2009. Stainless steel, 86 5/8 x 135 7/8 x 126 inches.
Muñoz’ exhibition will include eleven works ranging from “Reposada”, 2008 (15 3/4 x 20 1/8 x 18 1/2 in., 40 x 51 x 47 cm), a sprightly steel sculpture that hangs from three points in the corner of two adjoining walls and seems ready to spring to life, to “Salomé”, 2009 (86 5/8 x135 7/8 x 12 6in., 220 x 345 x 320 cm.), a large-scale sculpture with undulating forms that recall the energetic swirling and dancing of the title’s namesake. The other monumental work in the show is “Candombe”, 2009 (74 4/5 x 141 3/4 x 86 3/5 in., 200 x 400 x 230 cm.). Muñoz comments on these sculptures in her forward to the exhibition catalogue: “Each one them is made of the usual stainless steel, but the novelty is the blue perforated sheet of Candombe, I think it enhances the kinetic effect in a work of great rhythm and musicality. When this sculpture is placed in [the] exterior and underneath the sunlight the brightness of the intense metallic blue is increased. The other great sculpture, “Salomé”, barely leaned on three angular points, is lightweight and dancing, complex and whimsical…”
Muñoz has an excellent eye for the contrast of light and dark, particularly evident in the smaller wall sculptures such as “Reposada”, mentioned above, “Retráctil”, 2009 (17 3/4 x 29 1/8 x 16 1/2 in., 45 x 74 x 42 cm) and “Salomé II”, 2008 (17 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 25 1/4 in., 45 x 70 x 64 cm), where the interplay of the shadows cast by the sculptures’ forms become part of the reading of the work, shifting with the natural light and adding to their effect.
Born in Madrid in 1963, Muñoz began her artistic career as a printmaker and won many prizes and grants based on her work in this field. Her interest in sculpture began through her search for volume and three-dimensionality within her graphic work. A sojourn to Mexico on a grant in 1993 began a life-long interest in cosmology, where scientific speculation with regard to the origin and evolution of the cosmos became, in Muñoz’ words, “a passionate and magnificent source of poetic and artistic images.”
Muñoz’ sculpture won First Place in the I Bienal de Escultura Riofisa (Madrid, 2001), and First Place in Sculpture, Bancaixa (Valencia, 2000). These commendations are in addition to her many prizes for printmaking, including El Premio Nacional de Grabado (National Printmaking Award) at the Seventh Calcografía Nacional, Madrid, 1999, and The Luis Caruncho Printmaking Award, Museu de Grabado Contemporáneo de Marbella, Malaga.
Her work is represented in many museums and public collections, including Academia Española de Historia, Arqueología y Bellas Artes, Rome; Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid; Calcografía Nacional – Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid; City Council of Pamplona, Spain; Colección Caja de Burgos, Burgos, Spain; Fundación Bancaja, Valencia; Fundación Bilbao-Arte, Bilbao; Museo de L’Almodi, Valencia; Museo de Bellas Artes de Álava, Vitorio, Spain; Museo del Cabildo Insular de la Palma, Canary Islands; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; and Museo Würth, La Rioja, Spain and Kunzelsau, Gemany.
Muñoz’ large-scale sculpture can be found in numerous public locations in Spain. In addition to her work at Torre Caja Madrid by Norman Foster, her scuplture is installed at Parque de la Curva de Elorrieta in Bilbao; Plaza del Siglo, in the historic center of Málaga; at the Palacio de Congresos, Badajoz; Estación de Príncipe Pío, Madrid and at Parque de la Curva de Elorrieta, Bilbao.
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