The Big Picture

The Big Picture

Jorge Perianes – Sin Título
Galería Max Estrella, C/ Santo Tomé 6, Madrid

Text: Tabea von Ow

The first artwork that Jorge Perianes presents at his latest exhibition at Galería Max Estrella, are two triangular stone blocks on the ceiling held by staffolding tubes. Impressing only by their sheer size, this work leaves the visitor rather unabashed. Almost lost seem the two small mirrors next to it, one of which has got a cigarette stuck to it and another full of acrylic water-drops which look way too big to fool the eye, if that should’ve been the purpose. All in all, it is quite an unadventurous first impression.

What follows next seems like a mishmash selection of the artist’s works, all well made and thoroughly elaborated, but the spark just won’t leap over. The ladder not reaching the floor due to its fixation on the wall, the big square taken out of and put back into the wall with plants growing through the chink, the open birdcage and a tiny little hole in the wall through which the bird must have fled and so on – it’s all been seen before! Of course, an artist can’t always reinvent himself for every single show, needs to keep his individual style and must constantly refine his own oeuvre, but Perianes seems to be taking the easy way here. Many of the pieces are just slightly different from the ones presented in earlier exhibitions and instead of an evolution, the spectator gets to see a variation of his former creations. It is a shame, because the artist’s actual ideas show a lot of creative potential and should not be too difficult to stretch intellectually.

Fortunately, there is a third room remedying the above mentioned lack of originality. It is full of artworks related to all kinds of drinking glasses, all of them with a very ironic touch. So for example a broken wine glass to which the missing piece has been attached with a little hinge. Or the brandy snifter with a cut-to-half base which can’t stand upright anymore but still perfectly serves as a liquid-container. These works finally have an inner context and are formally related as well as alike in their appearance and presentation. And while looking at these objects, suddenly, the artist’s main purpose comes to light: It is a game of attraction and stimulus, without the possibility of release. The glasses fascinate the spectator and the temptation to touch them mounts with every step. There are glasses full of alcoholic liquids, objects put under, over or between the glasses in a very fragile way. And there is no one around: it would be the perfect moment to touch them, to check if the liquid is real or made of acrylic resin, if the stone held up between two glasses is mechanically attached to them… But the well-educated public would never dare to actually do what it aches to. So, there’s a reference to our behaviour, our moral and the restricting boundaries we create with this. Finally, cerebral questions arise and the audience’s brain starts to work, to connect things and to realise that the first part of the show is not as different as it seems. Considering the common ground of temptation, the mirrors from the entrance hall, the ladder, everything appears in a different light – incomprehensible at first, making sense now.

To sum up the thoughts about this exhibition full of mixed impressions, it has to be admitted that Perianes put not so much effort into creating something new, but at the same time, he teaches the public the most important lesson of all: always look at the big picture!