PROPERTY FROM THE JESUS AND MARITESS PINEDA COLLECTION

León Gallery wishes to thank Mr. Christian M. Aguilar for confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

Federico Aguilar Alcuaz’s abstractions toe the line between figuration and delineation. Belonging to the exceptional classification of artists who excel in various mediums and forms, Alcuaz painted abstractions and figurations, made ceramics and tapestries, sculptured and created small works of art from paper scraps, among others. With such a level of mastery in the arts, the logical next step for him was to blur the lines between mediums and genres, creating for himself an intimately personal oeuvre. Such is the case with this 1976 Untitled (Abstract). Alcuaz’s virtuosity made it possible for him to seamlessly shift from one medium to another or to combine the seemingly disparate elements of two different genres. With his abstractions, Alcuaz plays around with the pictorial planes, creating an image of an almost figuration. One could see the flowers Alcuaz placed in the midst of the abstraction but nothing more and nothing less. Bearing the mark of his playful personality, his abstractions play around with their shapes and forms, utilizing deliberate delineation of colors and sharp outlines to create a surreal image of harmony and chaos. “Alcuaz aimed for the unintentional to fabricate his abstractions,” Alcuaz’s monograph Alcuaz: Navigating the Spanish Soul writes, “and in the process created an illusory geography, frighteningly surreal due to its somber and isolated atmosphere despite the cool and calm colors.” (Hannah Valiente)