Meet the Artist | Irene Grau
As a longstanding VOLTA Basel collaborator, Maus Contemporary personifies the dedication to supporting creativity and experimental, issue-driven artwork that is so important to the curation of our Fair. Not only are they committed to bringing a global perspective to current issues in the visual arts, but they place contemporary artists in dialogue with this context. We’re delighted to welcome them back for VOLTA Basel 2023, where they’ll present a special project by Spanish artist, Irene Grau: “The Carrier”.
Created in Switzerland, “The Carrier” follows in the footsteps of iconic 18th and 19th century Swiss painters who chose the Swiss Alps as their primary subject, or muse. Important names, such as Caspar Wolf, Alexandre Calame, Johann Ludwi Aberli, François Diday, Arnold Böcklin and Ferdinand Hodler, have inspired the project, where their work forms the base canvases of Grau’s minimalist paintings.
About Irene
The spatial awareness of walking plays a pivotal part in Grau’s work, where painting and landscape, displacement and settlement, are explored from rigorous research into the possibilities of simplistic, monochrome palettes.
Most often, Grau creates series and projects that have a performative process attached, and always an attunement to nature. The initial research stage is followed by extensive studio work, which complements her experimental style as she plays with different textures, mediums and materials. Once finalized in the exhibition space, the result goes beyond what is expected of a physical experience, where both architectural structure and concrete information are utilized to conceptually understand the artist’s questions and concerns.
The process
Undertaken during the summer months of 2018, “The Carrier” is built on the process of carrying paintings across the Swiss landscape to re-create, as closely as possible, the identical walks that the illustrious artists had to follow in order to reach, whenever possible, the exact spot from which they painted some of their most recognizable Alpine views.
Straps are added to Grau’s paintings so that each can be carried like a bag. Every canvas has the same measurements and chromatic range as the original painting that it is based upon. Before starting the walk to the primary location, Grau paints “en plein air”, so that the drying process coincides directly with the walk. This invites the landscape to adhere to the painting as a symbolic nod to the stunning surroundings, whilst the walk itself is documented photographically.
At VOLTA Basel
You’ll be able to discover Irene Grau’s “The Carrier” project at Maus Contemporary’s stand (B08) at the Fair, where her absorbing “bag paintings” and the accompanying photography will give an insight into her practice as an artist who drives the VOLTA mission to present the art of now.
Maus Contemporary is a contemporary art gallery based in Birmingham, Alabama dedicated to supporting creativity with a focus on experimental as well as issue-driven work
See Maus Contemporary at this years VOLTA Basel from June 12-18
In the meantime see more of their work here and follow Maus Contemporary on Instagram at @MausContemporary