What we let through
The works of William Gaber that we present in his second solo exhibition in Madrid are made up of various studies with geometric shapes that refer us to formal architectural elements — originally functional — such as the control of light or the preservation of the privacy of buildings. The title of the exhibition, “What We Let Through,” points directly to those lattices so characteristic of both the original city of this creator, Mérida (Yucatán), and the Andalusian tradition. Lattices that sift light and/or information, structures that delimit, veil, and serve as an excuse for the formal explorations that the artist has made in recent years, together with chromatic ranges. Based in Madrid since 2017 and a member of the Nave Porto collective, where he has his studio, Gaber works based on the heritage of the best contemporary Mexican architecture — from Teodoro González de León, who created a masterful syntax in his work from the influence of Le Corbusier to pre-Hispanic elements; to Ricardo Legorreta, whose most iconic works include the National Center for the Arts and the Camino Real Hotel; or Luis Barragán, among others (see, for example, the yellow corridor of the Giraldi House). It also refers us to complex and polyhedral figures such as the creator Mathias Goeritz and his program of “emotional architecture” — I think specifically of the El Eco Experimental Museum — given that, for Gaber, that evocation of the emotional is core to the corpus of his work. The synesthetic experience that the artist proposes in this project poses a challenge to the visitor — to his memory, his references, and his sensations. It explores the physical and mental filters with which we build and relate to each other. This experience is generated through the play of reflections, his pictorial series, and the double-view sculptural piece that gives the exhibition its name. It is worth mentioning that the exhibition is complemented by a series of manipulated drawings of historical figures — a kind of amusements or playful exercises loaded with chance, central aspects in Gaber’s discourse. - Mónica Sotos, Curator
