Manuel Pinazo (1956) - Esperanza I

Geometry and Color in Space

Painted with natural pigments on mansonite (wood).
Year - 2021
Measures 70.5 x 91 cm. Shipped with the artist's certificate.

Expanded Geometry
By Pedro Alberto Cruz

The abstract language in which Manuel Pinazo Rodríguez's entire body of work is developed is a direct consequence of the reworking that geometric rigor underwent during postmodernity, as well as of the expansion that painting is undertaking beyond its traditional boundaries. The first distinctive element of his painting is the introduction of error, of 'imperfection' in the translation of certain geometric schemes with a long tradition dating back to the vanguards. Pinazo's work repeats compositional models based on parallel vertical or horizontal bands of different colors, checkered patterns, or the repetition of geometric figures such as rectangles. When examining each of these compositions in detail, one notices how the cold rationalism underlying geometric abstraction has been subverted through the insertion of various irregularities: slightly tilted lines that are therefore not completely straight; different spacing between the various color bands; verticals that are interrupted and break the rhythm of the work; or, clearly, the cheerful color—echoing Matisse—and sometimes with an air of naivety, which undermines the metaphysical authority that many vanguard geometric abstractions exude.
But the process of deconstructing the abstract geometry carried out by Manuel Pinazo does not stop at this first level of critique. There is, moreover, a 'second level' that the artist has been consolidating over the years, which offers interesting conclusions. Firstly, and following a line of work that continues the post-pictorial abstraction of the 1980s, the artist plays with the sculptural potential of painting through the assembly of various pieces that dismantle the traditional idea of contour/frame as a square or rectangular shape.

Manuel Pinazo, 1956 Valencia
• Arts and Trades. Eduardo Merello School (A.H.V.), affiliated with the Valencia School of Arts and Trades (5 years)