12 Rooms | MARCELO VIQUEZ: Room #1

Starting the New Year with Room #01 artist Marcelo Viquez presents 'Untitled (downtempo)' (2019), an installation consisting of eighteen painted drums and a large lorry tarpaulin. The presentation is part of KEWENIG’s exhibition format '12 Rooms', a monthly rotating artist programme in the enclosed room between the gallery and the adjacent building.

'Untitled (downtempo)' was conceived for an exhibition at Museu de Porreres, Mallorca, last year. As often in Marcelo Viquez’s vision the production process is at the core of the installation. The drums were gathered, bound together and laid on a large piece of tarpaulin. They were then splattered with over 25 kg of black paint, resulting in two distinct parts; the drums – or positive shape – and their black outline on the tarpaulin, which became a negative canvas. Both show how the paint splashed onto the drums before drying slowly. 'Untitled (downtempo)' is a record of the creative process that starts with the initial drips of paint, continues as the colour oozes between the drums and ends with the dusty cracks on the black surface. A silent but overwhelming cacophony seems to emanate from the drums, the splatters of black paintings evoking as many beats played at once. Knowing Marcelo Viquez as the drummer of the punk rock band Prenatal, the title Downtempo would seem ironic. Each of their tunes is like a musical explosion, and these drums embody as many remains from the bombs they detonated on stage.

Marcelo Viquez was born in 1971 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He currently lives and works in Palma de Mallorca. Solo exhibitions of his works have recently been held at Museu de Porreres, Spain (2019); Taller Los Guayabos, Guadalajara, Mexico (2019); NR Projects, Berlin, Germany (2015); Es Baluard Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Palma, Spain (2014).

Running parallel to Room #01, his solo exhibition 'Nuestras armas no hacen daño' is on view until 14 February at KEWENIG in Palma.

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