Torn Beauty: Marusela Granell – By Tobias Verlende

Marusela Granell’s art is eye catching even at the moment of initial encounter.

Torn Beauty: Marusela Granell

By Tobias Verlende

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marusela Granell’s art is eye catching even at the moment of initial encounter. The latest show of Granell’s work consists of five paintings and compositions, one on each wall. There are three very tall projects, works on paper made in 2003 and 2004. Pieces of paper are torn, sometimes violently and sometimes with the utmost care, and rhythmically circle the room. The pieces stand individually as beautiful explorations of color and form. Like one note of a symphony, each piece also contributes to the complete installation. The spaces in between the paper fragments are integrated into the work and speak as loudly as the vibrant reds and deep blue hues. The papers are arranged paradoxically haphazardly and with contemplation. Like works by 1960s conceptual artists Carle Andre and Robert Morris (Equivalents and Stadium, respectively) each element in the work contributes to the whole while maintaining a sense of individuality created by the possibilities for replacement and interchange. This variability gives the work a sense of contingency that matches ephemeral materials.

The destruction that went into the making is clearly visible. Destroying the order and the form, all the materials make torn disorder into artistic cohesion. Upon contemplation of the composition, you get the feeling that nothing in these works is missing. Granell shows the essentials, the important things that make the pictures whole. The viewer can use his imagination to fill in the space between the different parts of the installation. But the outer form, the essential idea, is clear to the spectator. He is now left alone to fill in the spaces between with his personal memories and dreams. Granell gives the viewer a framework in which to contemplate the playful possibilities the colors evoke. The empty space offers the viewer a chance for rest before contemplating the next colourful form. Like a musician integrates silence into his composition, Granell uses space to emphasize the flowing motion between the pieces.

I felt as if the pieces of paper were memories from the past, times I can clearly recall when I last saw the wonderful and clear and blue seaside. I cannot remember it completely, but deep in my mind and heard, I have saved a feeling of the sea. The light seaside breeze is blowing as if through the thin paper of Marusela Granell. The pieces of paper are like the essential parts of the story that your mind carefully files and stores. The details are as interchangeable as the Granell’s fragmented work but maintain their integrity in the process of destruction and decay. The negative connotation these last two terms imply is overwhelmed by the quiet sense of beauty her sparse works communicate. I was very impressed and touched by her ability to show us the essentials she stored in her mind and heart, that she tears out.

Another very small paper work shows a pencil sketch of the forms of a pair of legs inside of another’s pair of legs. All other details are left out, but it still communicates the intimacy of the situation. She uses color to show togetherness and trust. Another work is just a small: a white piece of paper that stands alone on a white wall. While the scale is vastly different from the other languid and large pieces, one note still speaks on the scale of a symphony. The relationship between one piece and the whole work never answers questions about which part comes first.