THESE FLEETING DAYS CAROLINE ATTAN
12th April – 4th May 2019
RAILINGS GALLERY LONDON
CAROLINE ATTAN THESE FLEETING DAYS 12th April – 4th May 2019
Railings Gallery is delighted to present These Fleeting Days, an exhibition of new works by London based artist, Caroline Attan. Caroline Attan’s works are characterised by generic circular grids that underpin meticulously folded paper forms, creating geometric and rotating compositions. The titles are suggestive of a deeply personal response to the content of the poems that inspire her and particular moments in time. Her circular compositions are infinite, with no apparent beginning or end.
The poetry of Pablo Neruda is a particular influence on Attan’s work. Neruda’s explorations of conflicting emotions of desire, humour, anger, frustration and affection are translated into intricate combinations of text and delicately folded coloured paper. Attan’s personal language of expanding and contracting, concentric circles seeks to interpret the sentiments and ideas conveyed in the written narratives that inspire her. Background and foreground, light and dark, large and small, the revealed and the concealed are all oppositional elements that come together in Attan’s work. Meticulously constructed pictures are created through a certain personal rigour, connection and discipline using very specific methods. For this exhibition Attan has produced a new body of works she describes as ‘tonal’ that pare back her otherwise vibrant palette to muted hues of greys, browns and deep berry reds. The gentle oscillation of autumnal shades is punctuated by vibrant pops of saturated pinks and oranges, focused accents upon waves of colour. These new works demonstrate the breadth of Attan’s practice, taking a regimented process, pushing it to the boundaries and showing us the vast possibilities of the interaction between colour, shape and text.
Caroline Attan Lento Otono en mi Ventana Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 59.5 x 59.5 cm
Catalogue No.20 ÂŁ1,350 RESERVED
“The Poem by Neruda ‘I remember you as you were’ (Te Recuerdo Como Eras) describes the memory of his lover ‘last autumn, you were the grey beret and the still heart.’ The small folded forms of autumn colours rotate over the poem handwritten in Spanish and English to create an ambience of this special season. Erupting through time and memories these colours conjure up the smells, colours and audible crunching of autumn leaves.”
Caroline Attan Mis Profundos Anhelos
(My Deep Longings) Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 112 x 112 cm Catalogue No.4
£3,600
“In this poem by Pablo Neruda, Bella (beauty) describes the beauty of his lover as he compares parts of her body to nature ‘your waist was formed by my arm like a river flowing for a thousand years over your sweet body.’ The poem is handwritten in Spanish and English within a circular grid.”
Caroline Attan Todo eso es mio (All this is mine) Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 135 x 135 cm Catalogue No.15 £6,900
“The folded pieces of gold paper form a pattern to reflect the light creating a holy image as the title infers, evoking a sense of calm serenity ‘The immortal light’ evolves and shines continuously glowing with optimism.”
Caroline Attan La Luz Immortal (The Immortal Light) Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 105 x 105 cm Catalogue No.12
£3,600
Caroline Attan La Plata Torrencial Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 99.9 x 99.9 cm
Catalogue No.2
ÂŁ3,500
“A band of circular mauve folded forms disrupts the harmonious composition of the coloured folded paper reminiscent of Latin American weaving. This disruption emphasises how unpredictable experiences and emotions can be but the continuity of the circle gently surrounds and protects.”
Caroline Attan Mi Estrella en Fogata Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 79.9 x 79.9 cm Catalogue No.6
£2,150
“Soft cream, patterned with green and yellow folded components create a rotating, tranquil composition emphasising the relationship of Neruda’s desires and relationship to natural elements ‘In my sky at twilight you are like a cloud’. My Sky at Night (En mi Cielo Al Crepúsculo) is Neruda’s paraphrase of the thirtieth poem in Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘The Gardener’ which appears in his collection ‘Twenty Love poems and a Song of Despair’.”
Caroline Attan La Lampara de mi Alma Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 64 x 64 cm Catalogue No.9
£1,350 SOLD
“Neruda imagines himself smaller than a tiny insect (El insecto) as he is embarking on a long journey travelling down the body of his lover. This is a rather sensuous, humorous poem, ’Now here is a mountain. I shall never leave this’. The circular composition emphasises this continuous and infinite voyage of love, desire and blissful discovery!”
Caroline Attan El Insecto Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 84 x 84 cm Catalogue No.21
£2,150
“Very bright, contrasting coloured folded forms weave themselves into a complex composition. The central yellow form disrupts and clashes with the rest of the circular composition emphasising the complexity, irrationality, wonder and denial of feelings of love and desire. The poem is handwritten poem in Spanish and English, I Did Not Love You/ No the amaba by the Bolivian poet Jaime Saenz. This poem describes all the emotions embedded in ‘love’ ‘beyond desire or illusion’.”
Caroline Attan Con Ciego Amor Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 84 x 84 cm Catalogue No.3
£2,150
“Tones of brown, grey, maroon, mauve contrast with the warm cream and bright beige that radiate through the circular composition against the toned card background. A ring or two of a dominant, bright colour, green, pink and orange, loudly disrupts, piercing the muted tones to emphasise the complex and ever changing images of natural form reflecting human emotion. The light, warmth, luminosity of the cream folded forms emphasise the three dimensional construct of these compositions.”
Caroline Attan Del Castaño Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 84 x 84 cm Catalogue No.11 £2,150
Caroline Attan Never Alone With You Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 81.6 x 81.6 cm
Catalogue No.5
ÂŁ2,150 SOLD
Caroline Attan La Vida Callada Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 104 x 104 cm
Catalogue No.1 ÂŁ3,600
Caroline Attan Porque Tu Sabes Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 104 x 104 cm
Catalogue No.7 ÂŁ3,600
Caroline Attan El Perfume Infinito Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 84 x 84 cm
Catalogue No.22
ÂŁ2,150
Caroline Attan The Tender Moss Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.24
ÂŁ1,350
Caroline Attan Una Rama Florida Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.16
ÂŁ1,350
Caroline Attan Escondida Dulzura Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 81 x 81 cm
Catalogue No.10
ÂŁ2,150
Caroline Attan La Rama Robada Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.23
ÂŁ1,350
Caroline Attan Rumores de Encina Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.18
ÂŁ1,350 SOLD
Caroline Attan Castano Susurro Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.17
ÂŁ1,350
Caroline Attan Una Castana en el Suedo Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 60 x 60 cm
Catalogue No.14
ÂŁ1,350
“An untitled poem by Mexican poet, Isabel Fraire describes beautifully and simplistically the point during the day in which the sun comes out and ‘everything is beside the point- it is enough to open your eyes and stretch your limbs like a cat’ and to while away the time. Ignoring political and philosophical discussions it is possible ‘to recover here in the sun the simple pleasure of your own skin’. There is only one line of blank spacing in this grid as it is predominantly a continuous circle composed of folded paper forms of dark blue and cream patterns to create a harmonious composition.”
Caroline Attan Filosoficos Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 64 x 64 cm Catalogue No.8
£1,350 SOLD
“A section from ‘The Lost Neruda Poems’, a walk through the forest under ‘the earth’s trembling canopy’ is handwritten in Spanish and English. This poem describes the relationship between natural elements and human emotions. Leaves are likened to ‘lips and eyelids, mouths, eyes, the hair of the earth’. The green and cream folded forms are densely arranged overlapping the circular grid beneath. These folded forms are arranged as an expression of the falling leaves and the density of the forest ceiling. The light that very occasionally interrupts the darkness of the forest becomes a brief interlude, the space where the handwritten poem emerges.”
Caroline Attan Todas las Hojas Paper collage and hand-written poetry on card 63.5 x 63.5 cm Catalogue No.13
£1,350 SOLD
“noche (night), crepūscula (twilight), noche clarete (claret), noche azul (blue), noche de amatista (amythyst), noche de la ciudad (night of the city) These minimalist pictures reference the sky at night and demonstrate how black is never completely dark or absent, black is a colour we create in our imagination. The folded card shapes are arranged in a circular composition so that they appear almost textural. Night skies appear quite dense and change the environment completely. The twilight sky is grey and the colours of city lights effect the sky at night, warm, cool or misty, these pictures convey the sensual effect of different night skies where absence is a tactile presence.”
Caroline Attan Noche Series (set of 6) Paper collage on board Each 59.5 x 59.5 cm Catalogue No.19
£7,000
Caroline Attan Noche de Amatista Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
Caroline Attan Noche de Crepusculo Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
Caroline Attan Noche Azul Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
Caroline Attan Noche Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
Caroline Attan Noche de Ciudad Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
Caroline Attan Noche Clarete Part of the Noche Series Paper collage on board
61 x 61 cm Catalogue No.19
RAILINGS GALLERY LONDON
All works are available for purchase on receipt of this catalogue.
The prices listed are inclusive of framing and VAT
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5 New Cavendish Street London W1G 8UT 020 7935 1114 • info@railings-gallery.com Instagram: @railings_gallery_london www.railings-gallery.com