ART CITIES: Paris-David Magán

David Magán’s art lies in the field of sculpture and installation, where the use of plane, color, transparency and light stands out. Magán trained at La Palma School of Art, from 1999 to 2004, specialising in wood and metal sculptural techniques.Between 2002 and 2008, he complimented his training at specialised workshops on creative stained glass art, notably with sculptor Lucas Mjartan, at the Real Fábrica de Vidrio de la Granja, Segovia, Spain.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Galerie Denise René Archive

David Magán’s exhibition “Multilayered” invites the viewer to actively participate in the artist’s mental process. Upon closer inspection, his seemingly complex paintings reveal a simple play of layered elemental forms. This lively process invites the viewer to enter the realm of perception. Each work in the “Multilayered” series is designed with digital tools and subsequently taken to canvas. Starting with a single form, a reduced colour palette and using visual devices such as transparency, overlapping, duplication, rotation or mirroring, Magán imposes a series of restrictions on himself in order to explore the maximum potential of combining elementary forms. The mystery of our surroundings has been the driving force behind mankind’s constant exploration and understanding of nature. This seemingly endless scientific quest leaves us with more questions than answers, and this is one of Magán’s central themes. The exploration of the infinite combinations that result from the repetition of a single element, together with the process of discovery to which the viewer is invited, becomes a powerful metaphor for our endless quest for knowledge and the structures that underlie nature. Magán’s works take on real meaning when placed in context. These colorful works expand and relate to the architecture in which they are placed. In this way, the layering in the compositions’ design develops its full potential, creating the illusion of three-dimensionality on the flat surface of the canvas and activating our physical senses. This project was specifically designed for the Denise René Gallery and conceived as a virtual exhibition. It is also a tribute to the artistic movements associated with concrete and systematic art, which are a reference for Magán. This project is, therefore, related to others in which David also revisits the history of contemporary art and approaches certain aesthetics and concepts from his artistic practice.

Photo: David Magán, Multilayered 04 v. 02, 2023, pigment ink on canvas, 120 x 397 cm, © David Magán, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Denise René

Info: Galerie Denise René, 33 rue Censier, Paris, France, Duration: 24/4-2/6/2024, www.deniserene.fr/