Sol

The act of cutting is a fundamental part of Antonio Ballester Moreno’s practice. His paintings based on a language of reduced shapes and primary colors are born, like his sculptures, through the sharp blade of a pair of scissors followed by a play of variation and juxtaposition in the format of small collages – carefully composed prefigures for paintings on raw jute. Despite previously working with objects such as ceramic or clay, his new sculptures are part of a group of works for which sculptural autonomy is characteristic. Based on cardboard maquettes, regardless of the work‘s fabricated nature, Ballester Moreno’s steel sculptures emphasize their hand-made potential, leaving behind the obvious gesture of the uneven cut of an otherwise mechanically produced object.

Reminiscent of cardboard color sheets cut into primary shapes derived from nature, such as clouds, the sun, the moon, or half-moon, open a play of opposition, highlighting the dichotomies of nature, while creating a formal connection with the 20th-century avant-gardes, a frequent reference of Ballester Moreno’s work. In terms of juxtaposing color and form, the play of positive and negative can be perceived as a reference to the passage of time and the cycle of life, moving from day to night, from moon to sun, from sun to cloud (…).