Helena Almeida: 'Seduzir' [To Seduce, 2002] (detail)

Collection

Canto modular. Canons 22 [Modular chant. Canons 22]

Image caption
ELENA ASINS

Canto modular. Canons 22 [Modular chant. Canons 22]

  • 1989-1990
  • Ink on paper
  • 16 x 69,2 cm each
  • Cat. D_158
  • Acquired in 1993
  • Observations: This work comprises 24 sketches, intended to be arranged in two parallel lines so that the geometrical drawings are completed via visual comparison. For this reason the artist added an inscription in pencil in the bottom left corner of each drawing.
By:
Isabel Tejeda

Taking aesthetic precepts drawn from constructivism and later inherited by minimalism as her starting point, in these pieces from the Banco de España Collection Elena Asins explores how different elements can be arranged so that they jointly build up an abstract structure based on applying mathematical theories, particularly Ramsey’s Theory, to the plastic arts. The idea of absolute disorder is called into question graphically. At the same time, she includes explicit references to the links between music, mathematics and geometry.

These pieces dispense with gesture and follow guidelines laid down by other artists from her generation who also pioneered the use of technology, and computers in particular, in the development of creativity. As its title suggests,  Modular chant. Canons 22 (1989- 1990) mirrors the musical structure of a canon, with voices that echo and pursue each other, building up, scaling down, separating and coming back together at intervals, while at the same time providing a counterpoint to generate a constructive dialogue. Like sheet music for a duet, the shapes and all their possible permutations can be seen both a positively and negatively. They express an ever-changing relationship with the background and the modulations that the figure generates in space, based on minimal formulae that contain only what is absolutely necessary to develop the concept. This explains the use of only black (ink) and white (paper). The series is built up sequentially, which adds a free-flowing, temporal dimension to the work. The systematic sequencing methodology used here later led the artist to move into video: the representation of time, an essential aspect of her work, thus brought her to a discipline that provided an additional tool for experimenting with it.

Isabel Tejeda

 
By:
Isabel Tejeda
Elena Asins
Madrid 1940 - Azpíroz (Navarre) 2015

Elena Asins studied first at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and then at the University of Stuttgart (Germany), the New School for Social Research at Columbia (New York) and the Computing Centre of the Complutense University (Madrid). She began her career in the 1960s.

From the outset her interest in logic, semiotics, geometry, music and mathematics was plain to see. Indeed, in 1967 she took part in the Arte objetivo [Objectie Art] exhibition in Madrid, which featured abstract works rooted in Constructivism.

Her work —which includes painting, sculpture, concrete poetry, computer graphics, installations, drawing and intangible work— pioneered the use of computing and technology for artistic purposes in Spain. She explored this path with colleagues from the same generation such as Eusebio Sempere, José María Yturralde and Soledad Sevilla at a Seminar on the Analysis and Automatic Generation of Plastic Forms at the Computing Centre of the Complutense University in Madrid (1969). Producing works based on algorithms, she sought to create an autonomous world, a scenario based on mathematics and logic that used repetition and variation as a tool and the cube as a measure. Her work is impeccable and elegant, and has been linked to conceptual art and concrete art. In it, all decoration, including colour, is eliminated to give a perfect form devoid of any inkling of recognisable symbolism.

She won first prize at the Zeitschrift für Kunst und Medien in Karlsruhe (Germany, 1988), the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 2006 and the National Award for Plastic Arts in 2011.

Her work has been exhibited at numerous institutions such as the Espacio Gallery (Madrid, 1962), the Edurne Gallery (Madrid, 1968), the Galerie Am Berg (Stuttgart, Germany, 1970), the Carteia Gallery (Algeciras, Cadiz, 1978), the National Library (Madrid, 1979), the Institute of Architects in Zaragoza (1979), the Juana de Aizpuru Gallery (Seville, 1980), the Cultural Centre in San Lorenzo del Escorial (Madrid, 1982), the Galerie Kammer (Hamburg, Germany, 1990), the Theo Gallery (Madrid, 1991, 1994 and 1996), the Sala C.A.I. Luzan (Zaragoza, 1996), the Altxerri Gallery (Donostia/San Sebastián, 2000) and the Freijo Gallery (Madrid, 2015). Her retrospective at the Reina Sofía Museum was a major event (Madrid, 2011).

Isabel Tejeda

 
«From Goya to our times. Perspectives of the Banco de España Collection», Musée Mohammed VI d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (Rabat, 2017-2018). «35th Bienal de São Paulo», Bienal de São Paulo (São Paulo, 2023).
Yolanda Romero & Isabel Tejeda De Goya a nuestros días. Miradas a la Colección Banco de España, Madrid & Rabat, AECID y FMN, 2017. Vv.Aa. Colección Banco de España. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Banco de España, 2019, vol. 2.