REVIEWED: Sandra Gamarra: Blanca
By Martin Macdonald
![]() | |
Sandra Gamarra, Blanca I, 2013 3 paintings (oil on canvas) measuring 315 x 175 cm each Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
Yesterday, on a cold and grey spring afternoon, I visited Blanca (White), an exhibition of new works by Spanish
resident Sandra Gamarra (Lima, Peru, 1972) at Galeria Juana de Aizpuru. At
this, my favourite Madrid gallery, Gamarra’s pieces - a hybrid combination of
painting, sculpture, video, site-specific installations and text - challenge
the white cube’s supposed neutrality. Gamarra utilises painting to question both
the container - the gallery itself - and its contents – the artworks. Emptiness and absence, two other important themes at Blanca place Gamarra camouflaging herself in her works - as though creating a total whitewash in
addition to questioning the role of the artist herself. The role of
the viewer, whereby one becomes an intruder rather than a visitor, also comes
into play.
![]() |
Sandra Gamarra, Blanqueo I (Still life), 2013 12 pieces of variable dimensions. Oil on cotton paper, wood frame Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
![]() | |
Sandra Gamarra, Blanqueo II (Textures), 2013 12 pieces of variable dimensions. Oil on cotton paper, wood frame Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
In the first room, the whiteness can be overwhelming - from the bright ceiling
lights to the white reflective wooden floor. Leaning against the windows, large
canvases allow a limited amount of natural light to enter. Blanca I (2013), an installation comprising three large white paintings
blends rather well with the architecture - the canvases mimicking the gallery walls
and skirting boards. Across are two more works - Blanqueo I (Still life) (2013) and Blanqueo II (Textures) (2013), each installation consisting of 12
small, framed paintings. In typical Gamarra style, the works are often
appropriations – amongst them, Ernesto Neto’s Leviathan Thot (2006),
a piece made of Lycra tulle, polyamide fabric and styrofoam balls which Gamarra has transformed into oil on
cotton paper.
![]() |
Sandra Gamarra, Piece of gallery IV, 2013 7 paintings (oil on canvas) of variable dimensions and a video projection Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
![]() |
Sandra Gamarra, Piece of gallery IV, 2013 7 paintings (oil on canvas) of variable dimensions and a video projection Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
The second room and its white/grey marble floor further develop the
themes of emptiness and absence and feature Gamarra herself - if only via video projections placed behind the canvases but which nevertheless draw the
viewer’s attention given the odd sounds they emanate. On the left, Piece of Gallery IV (2013) comprises seven paintings of various sizes
depicting the gallery walls and floor - plus a video projection of Gamarra
putting her paintings up as well as hiding behind them. Further along, Piece of Gallery V (2013) an installation of six paintings showing
the gallery’s interiors also features another video projection of Gamarra and
her white works.
![]() |
Sandra Gamarra, Blanca I, 2013 6 paintings (oil on canvas) of variable dimensions and video projection Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
![]() |
Sandra Gamarra, Blanca I, 2013 6 paintings (oil on canvas) of variable dimensions and video projection Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
Although
not for sale, newspapers painted to look like the marble floor are interspersed
throughout the room – the viewer having to constantly look at where one is
walking so as not to step on them. Another curious detail can be found in the form of quotes
from Ximena Briceño’s short story, A Desert, placed on the gallery walls. If the press
release is anything to go by, the viewer is also meant to make a connection
between Chile's Atacama desert, where the Pinochet dictatorship scattered
its victims' bones and the white gallery space which is “like a desert… a place
of passage” and where “these paintings may seem incomplete, as disembodied
bones.” Although a nice touch,
this is perhaps unnecessarily asking too much from the viewer. Blanca is nevertheless a splendid exhibition and to the viewer's benefit, Gamarra’s works never really fade into the background - in their
own special way, they fill the void.
![]() |
Partial view of the exhibition "Blanca" by Sandra Gamarra at Galeria Juana d Aizpuru, 2013 Courtesy of Galeria Juana de Aizpuru |
SANDRA GAMARRA: BLANCA AT GALERIA JUANA DE AIZPURU. Madrid, Spain. 13 Apr - 23 May