María Luisa Fernández: 7. 614. 101. 381 + -

 

The artistic career of María Luisa Fernández (Villarejo de Órbigo, León, 1955) began with the creation of the artistic collective CVA (Comité de Vigilancia Artística), founded together with Juan Luis Moraza between 1979 and 1985. The group produced sculptures, texts, and actions as a critical reflection on the mechanisms of representation and reception of artworks, the institution, and the contemporary art system. Following their participation in exhibitions such as Mitos y delitos (Metrònom, Barcelona, and Aula de Cultura, CAM, Bilbao, 1985), their acronym became associated with what is known as the “New Basque Sculpture,” a group of artists that became a reference for artistic practices and debates that marked the 1980s in the Basque Country.

 

At the end of the 1990s, María Luisa Fernández moved to Vigo, where she currently resides, and began a period focused on university teaching. In 2014, her work was the subject of a retrospective exhibition, first held at the Azkuna Zentroa in Bilbao and then traveling to MARCO in Vigo. These two exhibitions covered two decades of her work up to her last solo exhibition to date in 1997.

 

The current exhibition is titled “7,608,766,433+-”, indicating the number of people currently inhabiting the Earth. María Luisa Fernández has spent years reflecting on Malthusian ideas that denounce overpopulation of the planet and the misuse of its already scarce natural resources. This tension between the impermeability of the cultural space, particularly that of art, and the natural environment is expressed in the exhibition through the spatial juxtaposition of her various formal signs.

 

The exhibition is composed of four series of recent works. All four pieces share the generic title “Materia”, which is the defining element of existence. Two of the series are formally and conceptually linked to her previous work:

 

“Materia Liberada”, 2017–2018, is a set of 100 oil paintings on canvas where the artist subverts the generalized idea of prioritizing personal need over the common good.

 

“Materia Mínima”, 2011–2018, is a series of sculptures made from pine wood, consisting of anthropomorphic representations whose features have been simplified to the maximum. These two works can be understood as symbols of the supposed progress of humanity.

In addition to these works, Fernández presents two other series representing the natural space, which are formally differentiated from the first two by the use of materials and scale.

 

“Materia Fragmentada” consists of small-scale sculptures made from foam painted in acrylics of various colors. Its title alludes to forms suggesting animal attributes as if they were vestiges of the past.

 

On the other hand, in the series “Materia Multiplicada”, we find representations of animal silhouettes that reference the multiplication of their image in contrast to their real disappearance.