Gallery 305. Abstraction and Space

In the sense of an intangible and invisible reality, space started to take on a central role in abstract art in the 1950s. In this gallery, artists from different generations, places, and styles transcend the traditional representation of space based on illusion and perspective to generate new perceptions and visual experiences. In these works, stripped of any narrative or anecdotal content, each color and each line, each volume and each geometric shape not only occupies a physical space but also changes the way we experience its surroundings.

Mark Rothko and Robert Ryman view color as the tool that activates the spatial experience in painting: while Rothko’s layers and vibrant color gradations envelop us, Ryman takes a more minimalistic approach, using white to enhance light, texture, and visual variability depending on the position of the viewer and the lighting conditions of the exhibition space. Ellsworth Kelly’s compositions, which stand out for their unusual format and focus on color, make spectators sense a space suggestive of rhythm and volume, even though it is contained within a plane. In contrast, Pablo Palazuelo prompts us to visually scan and complete with our imagination the patterns and spaces hinted at by his lines, turning the work into a living, active place. Halfway between painting and sculpture, Richard Tuttle’s minimal, delicate shapes create a subtle dialogue between the object, its environs, and the public, while Al Held uses geometric shapes and illusory perspectives that appear to go beyond the edges of the canvas. Jorge Oteiza vacates the mass to reveal empty space, while Eduardo Chillida shapes matter to integrate the light and the surrounding space, as in How Profound is the Air, where perforated alabaster turns the void into an element laden with presence and meaning.