Composition

The starting point for “Composition,” the latest project by Colombian artist Andrés Ramírez Gaviria and the fourth in the series of exhibitions in the Tresor room, is formed by the “transatlantic paintings” of Piet Mondrian created between 1935 and 1940. Gaviria transforms these 17 world-famous paintings — many of which were initiated in Europe and completed in the United States — into an audiovisual installation that offers a playful but critical commentary on the phenomenon of abstraction in the history of modern art and its relationship with digital culture.

“Composition” involves digitally appropriating and deconstructing all vertical and horizontal lines from Mondrian’s paintings. Presented in a wide horizontal format (equivalent to the combined measurements of all 17 paintings), the projected lines move continuously and chronologically from left to right and vice versa. When two lines intersect, their speed and direction of movement change. Through this programmed interaction, the lines gradually deviate from their original “order” as they move through space, resulting in an unpredictable sequence of visual patterns. This visual experience is accompanied by sound — a series of snippets from George Antheil’s “Jazz Sonata” (1922), triggered at the moment the lines intersect.