Temporal exhibition | Until December 2015

>CRISTINA  DE  MIDDEL
(Alicante, 1975)

Untitled (Memorandum). 2009
46,5 x 70 cm.
Lambda print on photographic paper and aluminum plate
polyptych (4 pcs.)
Donation to MACE. 2013

“ Cristina de Middel always tackles reality by filling it with significance and symbolic value. The intensity of her gaze leads her to create icons, which is why there is a meticulous selection of objectives in her work. Showing great commitment to working on the streets, de Middel penetrates reality with knowledge made up of experience and attitude, ever prepared to be surprised. It is a mixture that floods the resulting strength and essence, pushing the communicative side of her work to the very limits of what the image can do without relying on text”... these works made for the MEMORANDUM exhibition (Sala Capitular, 2009)... “form a reredos on the temporary condensation of semantic content, focusing on a preliminary idea: the contrast of two levels of depth that are in theory alien to one another yet expand the number of ways it can be read and interpreted precisely thanks to these differences. The means of lighting the centre of the objective, gradating the lights towards the edges, leads the observer's gaze and brings us to the most distant point, showing her skill in some very convincing and mature results. From the wise combination of static things, that to our eyes seem impassive, and contingent things that appear casual and unexpected, emerges this underlying iconic value in her work.” E.R.S. MEMORANDUM exhibition catalogue. Ibiza, 2009.

> ISABEL ECHARRI
(Vera de Bidasoa)

Untitled (Life and death). 2011
33.4 x 41 x 20 cm.
Box and skull (assemblage)
Acquisition by MACE. 2012

“ A study of the iconographic values in the work of Isabel Echarri is decisive when it comes to facing up to its meaning and its potential significance because, in addition to what is already clear, there is a subtle secrecy enclosed in the form and the material. A study should not stop at – and this is what is interesting – the morphology which is made reality - with variables - in forms made with paper or from paper; this is the more or less textured base material into  which we need to meticulously plunge to get beneath the specific appearances, shredding the universe of the subtle, objective contributions and their relationships with the texts which are frequently inscribed to discover the metaphors and allegories which are underlying and which contain the poetic-philosophical flow of her intentions.” E.R.S. Booklet Life and Death hand installation. MACE. 2012-2013.
This work was part of that exhibition and brings it together like no other author's approach. The main idea is a meditation on life and death and the work is a vanitas, in which the skull is not lacking as ambivalent symbol of the transience of life and transcendence of death.
This still life locked in this box or briefcase, on the top carried the image of the chessboard, another symbol that refers to the spatio-temporal coordinates that are required for the development of life, understood as required "game" or transit between a safe and necessary beginning and an end.

> GILBERT Herreyns
(Brussels, 1943)

Untitled. 1972
80 x 80 cm.
Silkscreen on magnetizable polyethylene
Acquisition of MACE. 2012

This work belongs to the artist´s geometric period (1972-1975). In 1972, G. H. arrived in Ibiza and has been settled on the island ever since. During this period he used plain colours in binary combinations together with formal patterns always using geometric order. The piece acquired by the museum for its collections is also magnetic which allows it to move to vary the drawing since it is also divided into 16, 19 x 19 cm plates. The essential mobility allows it to be deduced that the artist not only adhered to geometric abstraction of optical effects at that time but also to kinetic art. Of course, so that this work should “move”, a manual action is required to set it in motion. The underlying concept of a labyrinth which is able to be manipulated seeks to involve the viewer in a process which goes beyond the purely observational to seek a degree of interaction as an accomplice. The use of this chromatic binomial as a resource which is capable of generating visual movement has its antecedents in the nineteen sixties when examples of this contrasting binary dialectic appeared (see Double Speed (1969) by Larry Poons or Campos magnéticos (1969) by Takis. In the case of Herreyns, the choice of two shades of blue allows the subtlety of the formal vocabulary to be seen.

> FELIX Waske
(Vienna, 1942)

Untitled. Years '70
30 x 42 cm.
Set of 12 black and white photographs:
The painter Zush (Evru) in their study of Ibiza by Jean Willi.
Portrait of Ivan Spence in Ibiza
Portrait of Ernest Ehrenfeld in Ibiza
Portrait of Zush, Jean Willi and Yoonah Kim in Paris (2012)
Donation to MACE. 2013

This series by Felix Waske, first of all makes clear a dimension of this artist´s production in the field of photography which expands on his more well-known commitment to drawing and printing. On the other hand, the content of these works appeals for a happy realization: the relationship between not only creative principals with Zush (now Evru) and Jean Willi but also their friendship, complicity and camaraderie.
Waske lived in Ibiza between 1967 and 1977 and these photographs are from this precise period. In 1973 he exhibited in the mythical gallery of Ivan Spence and as can be seen in this series there is a portrait of the dealer and gallery owner who was also the father-in-law of Zush for some time. The gallery was open between 1961 and 1975. This relationship – told through these photographs – is an authentic documentary which is highly useful in the construction of the history of the contemporary art scene on Ibiza.
In the series by Zush the studio can be seen in Sant Josep (and the works being created). The last photograph in the series captures their recent (2012) encounter in Paris between three friends together with Yoonah Kim (Zush´s partner), which shows the long-term relationship between the artists. The portrait of Ernest Ehrenfield – the writer and art-dealer – who resided in Ibiza between 1952 and 1978 completes the series.

The series has been processed by Alicia Herráez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) and Peña Coll (Universidad Ramón Llull de Barcelona) as part of the practices carried out under agreement in this museum in 2013.