Amadeo Gabino

(Valencia, 1922 – Madrid, 2004)

La llama de amor viva II

1980

print (etching and aquatint) on paper (91/195)

48.5 x 38 cm

Inv. no. 30764

BBVA Collection Spain


To a certain extent Gabino’s work is a continuity of postulates introduced by Julio González with regards his interpretation of constructive aspects and spatial elements.
 
The artist soon abandoned figuration to concentrate on experimentation with abstraction,
, technological advances, engineering and architecture. From the constructivists, he borrowed their intersections and compositional methods; from spatialism he took the three-dimensional quality; from kinetic art the play of optical combinations; and from minimalism the magnitude of forms…
 
Each part has its own natural unity within the work, which is much more than a simple mechanical grouping of disparate elements. There is no randomness or happenstance at work in the composition, rather a deliberate organisation.
 
This suite is made up of thirteen prints (etchings and aquatints) by the artist accompanied by two poems by St John of the Cross: “Noche oscura…” and “Llama de amor viva…”
 
Like drawing, monotypes and
, Gabino looked on prints as a permanent means for experimenting and analysing his language as an artist, something which was not possible to do with sculpture given its cost and dimensions. Paper was the perfect support for experimenting with works which he would then transfer to iron or steel plates, or the more polished surfaces of aluminium or brass.
 
In 1985 he learnt printing techniques at the School of Fine Arts of Hamburg, under the artist and master Paul Wunderlich, which he then continued at the studio of Antonio Lorenzo, at the workshop of Dimitri and in various institutions and associations dedicated to prints.
 
He prepared the plate himself without any prior sketch. By working directly on the support he was able to achieve the textures he was after, the very textures that he was obsessed with transferring to three dimensions.