Amador i Julio Varela 
Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria

Amador and Julio Varela

Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria

Curator: Antoni Ferrer

3/07 - 11/09/25  /  ESPAI COR (Cort's Heart Art)

Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria proposes a collaboration between Amador (Pollença, 1957) and Julio Varela (Buenos Aires, 1992), two artists from different generations united by their interest in printmaking and experimentation.

Their respective practices also share certain affinities that bring them closer together on a formal and conceptual level, paying special attention to the idea of ​​landscape and the human figure. On the one hand, we see how, since the 1990s, Amador's work has been nourished by, and sometimes makes use of, the natural environment in which he develops his creations. We are referring here to the Mediterranean landscape, formally crystallized in a particular use of light and chromatic range, as well as in direct references to the sea. His humanoid figures and elemental forms lead us to think of universal archetypes that point to an interest in the immanent. Julio Varela, for his part, starts from the idea that everything is landscape. While his way of understanding it is deeply influenced by Eastern tradition, which focuses on the pleasure of contemplation, his conception of it is mediated by memories and a sense of humor. Indeed, in his imagery we find contorted figures with impossible grimaces and references to the natural and domestic world, all articulated through the strategy of fragmentation, which delves into the idea of ​​the absurd.

As mentioned above, both artists are united by an interest and dedication to printmaking. More specifically, this project revolves around the practice of woodcutting. A printing method that uses a wooden board as a support for carving images that are subsequently transferred to paper. The technique of printmaking combines the artist's intentions with artisanal craftsmanship, making this medium traditionally very conducive to artistic innovation. Julio Varela trained at the renowned Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he studied printmaking. Amador, for his part, began using this technique through practice, surrounded by professionals who imparted the necessary knowledge that later served him not only to produce his own work, but also to launch the prestigious Edicions Maior printmaking workshop in Pollença.

Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria is a site-specific project that moves away from the logical exhibition and takes the characteristics of the space itself as its starting point. More specifically, we see how the work, co-produced by the two artists, occupies the meeting place between the wall and the ceiling, like a frieze or cornice. From ancient times to the present day, this architectural element has functioned as a narrative support and a space dedicated to decoration. Although Homes, Books and Songs of Joy is a "minimal" intervention, the result is extremely effective in capturing the viewer's gaze and directing it toward a field of vision different from the one we are accustomed to. Therefore, this project maintains the point of reference on the subject, the visitor, from whom a conscious effort is required.

In Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria, Amador and Varela do not tell stories or myths, but rather explore the poetic power of images and words. The artists focus on the formal qualities of the medium and those of the paper itself, which, being translucent and backlit, allows them to generate a type of visual effect that gives the work a somewhat magical presence. The landscape format of the work invites one to "read" the images linearly and consecutively, but the lack of narrative intention truncates this expectation, returning the viewer to the image. Along these lines, the semi-abstract nature of the compositions, As well as the artists' use of emptiness and words, they contribute to this suspension of meaning that anchors us in the present. Homes, llebres i cantets d'alegria is an exercise in artistic co-production and generosity that has emerged from the personal and mutual understanding that unites the two artists.