 
The Element of Freedom A R T M O O R H O U S E
M O O R
H O U S E
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W A L L
THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM
An Exhibition of painting and Sculpture by María Inés Aguirre
02ND FEBRUARY 2015 - 06TH MARCH 2016 I ARTMOORHOUSE MOOR HOUSE, 120 LONDON WALL, LONDON EC2Y5ET
EXHIBITION CURATED BY ELISA MARTINELLI, MARIA INES AGUIRRE BROCHURE CONCEPT ARTMOORHOUSE ALL IMAGES ©Michael Hutchinson MEDIA PARTNER First published in 2015 by ArtMoorHouse All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the permission of the copyright owners and publishers. All images in this catalogue are protected by copyright and should not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Details of the copyright holder to be obtained from ArtMoorHouse. ©2015 ArtMoorHouse
The Element of Freedom María Inés Aguirre
“Hope the voyage is a long one” K. P. Kavafis
“In time and with water everything changes” - Leonardo da Vinci Water is the carrier of nature, the pulse of life. Water changes itself into as many natures as the different places through which it runs. Water does not resist, it flows, going wherever it wants, so, ultimately, nothing can resist it. Metaphysical symbol of purity and spiritual transformation, water is a metaphor for a new-found freedom; a freedom which is gained independently through the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, whilst always remaining true to ourselves. Born between two rivers in Entre Rios (Mesopotamia), Argentina, María Inés Aguirre (MIA) works as if in rhythm with the ebb and flow of waves breaking on the seashore; energised by the freedom of the constant choices and unexpected currents created by her uniquely fresh and vibrant artistic language.
For MIA everything becomes liquid. Her work flows, and this is especially true of her series about the fountains and terraces of the Alhambra in Granada. These works pay homage to the profound artistic sensitivity and technical expertise of the Alhambra’s Muslim architects, to whom water was the magical fountain of life and essential substance of the Universe. The Earth is water and we are water: both the reflection of and the eyes through which creation sees itself. We are also the purifying tears (lágrimas) which nurture the seed of our inner self and become the catalyst for true creative freedom. As MIA’s ceramic typewriters suggest, this is the indefinable process that sets our imagination free.
 
Universo - Oil on board - 145 cm x 230 cm
 
Mesopotamia - Oil on canvas - 60 cm x 122 cm
Alhambra Fountain Mixed media and rain water on card 30 cm x 25 cm
Fuente “Miamarillo Nazari” - Oil on paper - diameter 58 cm
 
Manantial Verde - Oil on paper - diameter 58 cm
 
Fuente Real - Ink and oil on paper - diameter 58 cm
Lloro a escondidas - Oil on canvas - 70 cm x 100 cm
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Lรกgrimas de agradecimiento - Oil on canvas - 70 cm x 100 cm
 
Concordia - Oil on canvas - 70 cm x 100 cm
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Compasiรณn - Oil on canvas - 70 cm x 100 cm
 
El arte de vivir Ceramic 30 cm x 24 cm x 34 cm
 
Mar profundo - Oil on card - 47 cm x 42 cm
 
Nenufar, (flor de agua) - Pastel on paper - 46 cm x 27 cm
 
Fuente de Cristobal - Pastel on paper - 30 cm diameter
Fuente Nazari - Pastel on paper - 30 cm diameter
 
Ithaca Inkjet on paper 51 cm x 36 cm
 
Aegina - Inkjet on paper - 36 cm x 51 cm
 
Blue Thames - Inkjet on paper - 59 cm x 76 cm
 
Typewriter 1 - Escribe con el corazon - Ceramic - 33 cm x 23 cm x 18 cm
Typewriter de Inés - Ceramic - 19 cm x 34 cm x 19 cm
 
Typewriter 3 - Ceramic - 21 cm x 29 cm x 19 cm (Private Collection)
Studio Smania - Oil on board - 111 cm x 152 cm
 
Secretos de agua - Oil on paper and inject on paper - 71 cm x 102 cm
Praying for rain - Oil on paper and inject on paper - 71 cm x 102 cm
Baptism - Oil on paper and inject on paper - 71 cm x 102 cm
 
Mediterranean - Oil on canvas - 100 cm x 122 cm
MARIA INES AGUIRRE (MIA) MIAʼs work is her response to the natural world, especially the brilliant colours and light of Argentina, music and emotion. She has lived and worked in London since 1993 and taken part in solo and group shows in Europe and the Americas. Her works are held in collections in every continent. MIA gave her first solo show at the age of six, when her mother, who was also a gifted artist, hung her paintings between the trees in the main square of their home town in the north of Argentina. MIA graduated from the University of Fine Arts,Tucumán, and moved to Italy after she won a scholarship to study painting with the artist Fabrizio Plessi at the Accademia delle Belli Arte in Venice. While living in Italy, MIA was commissioned to paint murals in Taiwan and Austria and also studied print-making in Salzburg. In his foreword to the catalogue of MIAʼs 2003 show at the Centro Borges, Buenos Aires, the late Pierre Restany (the critic who 'discovered' Yves Klein and a great authority on Latin American art) highlighted the distinctive qualities of MIAʼs work: “The exuberance and spontaneity of her painting have their roots in her emotional life. This is why her art will out-last over-rational art: for MIA, each colour represents a sound and each painting is a sun-burst of colour, of joy and imagination which is notable for its musical equilibrium”. These connections continue to inspire MIAʼs paintings and her 3D works, such as the two life-size baby elephants she painted for the Elephant Family (auctioned by Christieʼs in Milan and Sothebyʼs in London), the giant eggs for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, London, the exuberant life-sized crocodile, which was exhibited in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and the concert grand piano she turned into an abstract 3D painting while artist in residence at Steinway & Sons, London. In 2010 MIA spent several months at Steinway Hall where, taking inspiration from the colour and energy of Les Ballets Russes, she transformed a shiny black concert grand piano into an abstract painting. She called it 'Dancing Soul' and Steinway sold it (for a six figure sum) to a collector last year. The works Mia created while painting the piano were exhibited in a solo show, ʻThe Music of Colourʼ, curated by Elisa Martinelli at Moor House, London in 2011.
MIAʼs exploration of colour is greatly helped by her longstanding collaboration with the paint maker Michael Harding. His oils are used by many leading artists and MIA has used his colours for twenty years. He recently created four special colours for MIA, including 'Miamarillo Nazari', which she is using while artist in residence at the Alhambra, Granada. Since 2011, MIA has held a series of solo exhibitions in Andalucia, most recently (2014) a show of her cycle ‘Camino de Luz’ at the Archbishop’s Palace in Granada. She is currently preparing for three solo shows this year; at the Asia Contemporary Art Fair, Hong Kong; in France and the Centro Borges, Buenos Aires. MIA says the following words of Paul Klee, from 1918, describe her own creative process: “Everything around me dissolves and interesting works emerge as if of their own accord. My hand is entirely the instrument of a distant sphere. It isnʼt my head that is working, but something else, something higher, something somewhere more remote. I must have great friends out there – obscure, but also brilliant - and theyʼre all very good to me.”
‘DANCING SOUL’
MIA describes her time at Steinway in London as 'living on Planet Piano'; a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between music, visual art and the piano as a physical object. Part of the showroom at Steinway Hall was turned into a studio, where, for several months, Mia worked in full view of the public and visiting musicians. Ulrich Gerhartz, Steinway's chief technician, supported her throughout and made sure the painting did not affect the piano's touch or sound. MIA says she could not have painted the piano in the way she wanted if she had not used Michael Harding's oil paints. Their flow and intense pigments allowed her to turn the piano into a brilliant kaleidoscope of colour of extraordinary range. Michael provided technical advice throughout and says it will be 400 years before the thickest layers of paint are chemically dry. ‘Colour is used to describe music and visual art and MIA’s work is known for its remarkable use of colour. Her wish to explore the connections between the spirit of music and visual art created a stimulating partnership between the best piano makers and best paint maker in the world.
Just as Steinway pianos have been made to uncompromising standards since the company was founded in the 19th century, Michael Harding makes paint with techniques and materials that Rembrandt would have used. However, modern pigments have enabled him to extend the palette beyond Rembrandt, just as the best modern technology and materials help Steinway’s piano makers in their constant quest for perfection. Many artists have painted pianos, but ‘Dancing Soul’ is perhaps the first concert-grade piano to become an abstract 3D painting. Edward LucieSmith's foreword to a forthcoming book about ‘Dancing Soul’ draws attention to the difference between MIA’s approach and that of other artists who have painted pianos: “...The wonderful painted Steinway by MIA marks a culminating moment in a tendency that is increasingly manifesting itself. The colours and forms she has discovered to clothe this superb instrument express the soul of the music that is performed on it. Rather than looking for ways to decorate an instrument, as most of her predecessors have done, she has looked for ways to express its inner spirit…” Five outstanding pianists, Alexandra Silocea, Charles Owen, Katya Apekisheva, Juan Gallego-Coin and Julian Joseph were filmed performing on ‘Dancing Soul’. They all said it was an unforgettable experience as they felt the energy and passion of MIA’s art somehow added to their performance. While MIA was being filmed working at Steinway, the designer Bill Troop said 'Dancing Soul' is “certainly the best painted piano of the 21st century and one of the best since the 1920ʼs”.
 
http:// www.mariainesag uirre.com/pages/ Juan%201.html
PUBLIC ART In 2009, the late Mark Shand invited MIA to take part in the 2010 London ʻElephant Paradeʼ. This innovative fund-raising project for his charity Elephant Family saw 250 celebrities and artists painting life-sized fibreglass sculptures of baby elephants. MIA called hers ʻLunacroonerʼ, because he sings to the moon each night. After six weeks in Kensington High Street, ‘Lunacrooner’ was auctioned by Sothebyʼs. He now lives in a large garden in the country side. MIA painted another elephant for the Elephant Parade in Milan. She called it ʻEle-Love-at-First-Flight’ because she imagined him as an elephant/plane/pilot/philosopher who can guide us in love and show us the fragile beauty of Planet Earth. He was sold at Christieʼs Milan In November 2012.
In 2012, MIA was one the artists invited to paint a giant egg for the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt, to raise funds for the charities Action for Children and Elephant Family. MIA painted two eggs; 'Flora del Paraiso', which was exhibited in Covent Garden and 'Eggy-Shabby-Chic', which stolen from its plinth near Oxford Street. Eggs by two other artists were also stolen and later found, but the police never found MIA's egg, so the egg-hunt continues... She therefore painted a third egg, 'Eggmergency', which was auctioned for the charities later that year.
Miaʼs other public work includes a life-sized crocodile, ‘MacCrocosmile’. This was exhibited in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh in 2011 and sold to a private collector.
In 2013 MIA designed and painted the sets for Woodhouse Operaʼs production of Carmen
In 2014, Woodhouse Opera asked MIA to design and paint panels for its production of ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and ‘I Pagliacci’:
Solo Shows: 1987: Centro Cultural, Universidad de Tucumán; Casa de la Cultura de Salta (Argentina). 1988: Teatro Municipal de Iquique, (Chile). Museo de Arte Visual, Concordia, Entre Rios (Argentina). 1990: Consulado de Argentina, Milan. 1991: Otto Design Studio: mural de 20 metros (Taiwan); Durini Gallery, Londres. 1992: Thompson's Gallery, London; Mural in Sölden hotel (Austria); Delfina's Studio, London. 1995: Dragon Studios, London. 1997: Casino Pedrocchi, Padova (Italy). 2001: The Corporate Connoisseurs, London. 2003: Galleria “La Rinascente”, Padova; Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires. 2004, 2005: Salon des Arts, London. 2006: Studio Show: Ceramics and works on paper; "Art Feast", Salon des Arts. 2007: Open Studio Show, London. 2009: Natuzzi/London Design Week. 2010: Maya Gallery, London. 2011: Convento de Santo Domingo, Ronda, (Spain); 'The Music of Colour', Art Moor House, London. 2012: Centro Cultural, El Viso del Alcor; Antares, Sevilla; Centro Cultural Gran Capitán, Granada. 2013: Institut Français, London. 2014: Centro Cultural Nuevo Inicio, Granada. Group Shows: 1987: Centro Cultural, Tucuman; Cabildo y Casa de la Cultura, Salta; Casa de la Cultura Jujuy; Museo de Arte Visuale, Concordia. 1988: National Salon of Painting and Engraving, Buenos Aires; San Vidal Gallery, Venezia. 1989: La Cupola Gallery, Padova; Piazza Cavour Gallery, Padova; Talkhaus, Salzburg (Austria). 1990: "Logos" International Contemporary Art Fair, Varrallo Sesia,(Italia). 1991: "Art '91", International Contemporary Art Fair, Olympia, London; “Logos" International Contemporary Art Fair, Padova. 1994: "Santhia": Mostra Nazionale di Pittura Contenporánea, (Italia); "Nomad's Feast", Sloane Square, London; CSK Gallery, Eton (UK). 1996: Canning House, London. 2001-03: Chase exhibition, Royal College of Art, London. 2002: Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende, (Mexico). 2010: Elephant Parade, London. 2011: Italian Embassy; Fiumatto Fine Arts, London; 'Jungle City', Edinburgh; 'Elephant Parade', Milan. 2012: 'Hidden Gems of Contemporary Art', DSK Gallery, London; 'Fabergé Great Egg Hunt', London.
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MARIA INES AGUIRRE - MIA
www.mariainesaguirre.com mia@mariainesaguirre.com aguirreplanet@gmail.com
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