A project space in East Harlem is
currently featuring a show by Wendy White titled Madrid Me Mata.
For this show, White presents work
that pays tribute to the Galeria Moriarty in Madrid, and Spanish culture in
general. These include mostly large-scale paintings hung on a wall in a
circular frame with text painted on the front.
These works evoke the spirit of La Movida Madrelina, a movement that
originated in Spain in the 1980s that embraced freedom of expression and
transgression from the taboos imposed by General Franco during his reign from
1939—1975.
White captures the time period with
memorabilia such as magazine covers and film posters that honoring the
influential Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. White also gives her viewers a
taste of Spanish sports such as futobal
(a form of football), and the popularity of the World Cup in the States this
year. This comes across in works such as La
Luna de Madrid and Real Madrid.
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| "La Luna de Madrid" (2014) by Wendy White |
In 1984, the futobal team “Real
Madrid” won the UEFA Cup, with a group of players known as La Quinta del Buitre (The Vulture Squad) whose athletic style
highlighted Madrid’s independence. The painting Real Madrid reflects this with the number 84 painted in bright
yellow, against green strokes of paint. The piece is secured in a gold frame,
shaped like a crown representing royalty.
La
Luna de Madrid, represents futobal and Spain’s lively culture; the
inspiration came from a magazine of the same name. The painting features what
appears to be an image of a bird standing on the edge of a cliff with its chest
raised and long paint strokes behind it representing wings. In the upper left
corner is a sticker of a soccer ball positioned directly over an obscured image
of a net. The soccer ball represents the moon shining its light over the city.
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