Olga de AMARALThe Light of Spirit30.03.18 > 16.06.18

Opening thursday march 29th from 17h to 20h

The Light of Spirit

The Patinoire Royale–Galerie Valérie Bach becomes, for one exhibition, the temple of the Amerindian spirit and its powerful spiritual charge, in direct link with the cosmos, through the timeless work of the Colombian artist Olga de Amaral. This unclassifiable artist and her production, whose eternal force is haloed with gold -a glorious and divine stainless material- characterizes her mode of expression. A selection of some forty exceptional works, which cover the last 15 years, are presented here for the first retrospective in Belgium.

Her luminous work re-explores the textile tradition of South America by directly quoting the colors, shapes, graphics and materials of the pre-Columbian world, using gold or silver leaf, as well as the natural pigments of the world: indigo, amaranth, turquoise, and earth-colors, in a vast firework display against a backdrop of Andean music.

Her great sensitivity, in the service of a meticulous textile practice and an innate taste for interlacing, mosaics and mats, makes Olga de Amaral a passer-by between the ancestral spirituality of the Incas and our contemporary society. De-livering much like many artifacts, a poignant testimony of this immense civilization which disappeared in the first half of the 16th century.

The work of Olga de Amaral, characterized by a high degree of homogeneity and a fidelity to herself, for more than sixty years, would be without a doubt betrayed if one saw there only a simple visual manifestation, flattering our eyes , without any finality other than being very decorative, conferred to him by its colors and metallic sparkles. The work of weaving, cutting and combing textile fibers, sometimes freed from linen straps or organized by falling wire curtains, sometimes immersed in gesso, or by the practice of gluing Japanese paper stiffened by rope, are as much surprising techniques directly inspired by the ethnographic know-how of Amerindian civilizations, and thus constitute the struc-turing axis of a timeless production, of which we do not always know whether it is contemporary works or archaeo-logical remains.

A great power characterizes these colors and these metal tones, ranging from bronze to silver, from gold to mother-of-pearl, focusing our imagination around a form made of a rain of colors and reflections, borrowing this force from that of Russian icons or Buddhist Stupa. There is therefore a very spiritual, almost sacred perspective, invested by the artist in these murals, condensing in the subtlety of the result a creative process similar to prayer or meditation. Each of Olga de Amaral’s works appears, in its uniqueness and originality, as the narrative of an inner journey, recounting the joys and sorrows, the difficulties and the dazzling, the worries and the certainties of this artist who, as a result of her fame and international renown, continues to practice her art as a tireless and humble seeker.

To contemplate a work of Olga de Amaral is to be dazzled by the light of a spirit.

Exhibition “Light of Spirit – Olga de Amaral – a retrospective” at la Patinoire Royale-Galerie Valérie Bach from Brussels, from 29 march to 16 june 2018

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Biography - Exhibitions

Exhibitions (selection) De linea al espacio Jim Amaral, Olga de Amaral y Ricardo Cardenas, MAMBO, Colombie (2017)

Gold, curated by Jose Carlos Diaz, Bass Museum, Miami (2015)

Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, travelling to Wexner Center for the Arts,

Columbus, Ohio et Des Moines Art Center, Iowa (2015)

Now, when, then, Musée des Beaux-arts de Nantes, Nantes (2014)

Olga de Amaral: Selected Works, Louise Blouin Foundation, Londres (2013)

Golden Fleece, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, Israël (2008)

One of a Kind, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2008)

Museo de Arte Moderno, Barranquilla, Colombie (2002)

National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C. (1995)

Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Floride (1995)

Rewards (selection)Honoree of the Multicultural Benefit Gala, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2011)

Member of the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentine (2010)

Olga de Amaral Prize awarded at 5th International Biennial of Textile Art, organized by the World textile Art

Organization (WTA), Buenos Aires, Argentine (2009)

Honorary Co-Chair for the benefit of the Multicultural Audience Development Initiative, Metropolitan Museum

of Art, New York, NY (2008)

Olga de Amaral Prize awarded at the 4th International Biennial of Textile Art, San Jose, Costa Rica (2006)

Visionary Artist recognition by the Museum of Art & Design, New York, New York (2005)

Chair, UCLA, Los Angeles, Californie (1989)

Guggenheim Fellowship, New York (1973)

First Prize in the Tercera Bienal de Artes de Coltejer, Medellin, Colombie (1972)

First Prize in the XXII Salón Nacional de Artistas, Bogotá (1971)

Permanent collections (selection)The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA

American Craft Museum, New York, New York

De Young Museum, San Francisco, USA

Kunstendustrimuseum, Throdheim, Norvège

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombie

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

Musée Bellerive, Zurich, Suisse

Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France

Museo Nacional (Cancillería), Bogotá, Colombie

Museum Bellerive, Zürich, Suisse

The Renwick Gallery of the National Gallery, Washington D.C., USA

San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, USA

Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA

Ararat Gallery, Australie

Arthur Young Company, Houston, USA

Colgel the Clinton Exchange, Syracuse, USA

Dreyfus Corporation, New York, USA

Federación Nacional de Cafeteros, Bogotá, Colombie

First National City Bank, Miami, USA

Flagship Bank, Miami, USA

Florida National Bank, Jacksonville, USA

Forth Worth National Bank, Houston, USA

Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong, Japon

GBC International, Londres, Grande Bretagne

Interamerican Development Bank, Washington D.C., USA

International Trade Mart, Bruxelles, Belgique

Palacio Presidencial Antonio Nariño, Bogotá, Colombie

Phillip Morris Collection, New York, USA

Regent Hotel, Hong Kong

The Landmark Group, Atlanta, USA

UCSD Medical Center, La Jolla, USA

La Patinoire Royale-Galerie Valérie BachRue Veydt, 151060 BruxellesBelgiquewww.prvbgallery.com

Opening : Thursday march 29th 2018 from 17h00 to 20h00Exhibition from : from March 30th to June 16th 2018Visual and documentation available on request : info@lapatinoireroyale.com

InformationT. +32 (0)2 533 03 90info@lapatinoireroyale.com

Opening hoursOpen from tuesday to saturday from 11h to 18hClosed from sunday and monday Free entrance

AccessMetro : Louise (ligne 2 et 6)Tram : Arrêt Faider (92 et 97) / Arrêt Defacqz (93 et 94)Train : Brussels CentralParis > Brussels : 1h30London > Brussels : 2h00

ParkingAccessible parking : Parking Q-Park, rue de Livourne, 11 - 1000 Bruxelles

Reduced mobility Spaces of exposure are accessible to the handicapped visitors engine or the people with reduced mobility.

Practical information