Years ago, like any good fifteen-year-old stoner, I was well acquainted with the work of MC Escher. In those days, my artistic critques were limited to, “Whoa, dude, the fish are like… turning into birds. Trippy!” But eventually I pawned my Grateful Dead CDs, got a responsible haircut, took the Escher posters off the walls, and forgot about him entirely.
When I heard about the exhibit coming to Canal Isabel II, I was suspicious. Was he really an artist, or was that an illusion created by my muddled teenage mind? I went along not expecting much.
I was completely unprepared for what I found: a truly impressive exhibition of work from a man who is doubtless one of the masters in the history of printmaking. The earliest work displayed is a long series of Italian villages and mountains, albeit from strange perspectives and portrayed with a geometric perfection that is somehow disturbing. Later he progresses into his more famous work with paradoxical architecture, mosaics of lizards, and even the ubiquitous metamorphoses of fish into birds.
However, one of the most impressive parts of the exhibit is its presentation within the Canal Isabel II space - strange lighting effects and walls that meet at unconventional angles have the same effect on the viewer as one of the master’s lithographs - it’s disconcerting, disorienting, but in the end irresistable.
By Daniel Welsch
Published by Map Magazine - http://www.mapmagazine.com
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