Carmen Calvo

CARMEN CALVO (Valencia, 1950).
"Walls", July, 1991.
Mixed media (oil, terracotta and canvas) on wood.
Signed, dated and titled on the back.
It presents breakage in the wood of the back part that does not affect the canvas.
Measurements: 150 x 190 cm.
Carmen Calvo's transgressive and at the same time poetically charged character is fully appreciated in "Walls", a work that links up with the image of the order of accumulation associated with the artist. In it, small pieces of terracotta are superimposed on the canvas and introduce us to a rhythm of sequences reminiscent of a collector's display case, an influence derived from Calvo's discovery of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian art collections at the Louvre Museum in Paris. With regard to the use of clay, it is worth mentioning that the artist made use of this material on numerous occasions, albeit not as an ornamental element (in its ceramic, enamelled or polychrome form), but as a mundane fragment, stripping it of superfluous elements, that is to say, ennobling it.
Carmen Calvo studied at the Schools of Arts and Crafts and Fine Arts in Valencia, and graduated in advertising in 1970. She would later broaden her training thanks to grants from the Ministry of Culture (1980), the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid (1983-85) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for her residence in Paris (1985-92). Around this time Calvo began to be recognised, receiving distinctions such as the 1st LaSalle Seiko Painting Prize in Barcelona (1985), the Alfons Roig Prize from the Diputación Valenciana (1989), a scholarship at the 1st Martínez Guerricabeitia Biennial of the University of Valencia (1989), and selection for the 47th Venice Biennial (1997). The artist had begun her exhibition activity in 1969, taking part in a group show held at the Círculo Universitario in Valencia. She made her solo debut in 1976 at the Temps gallery in her native city, and since then she has shown her work individually in various cities in Spain and the United States, as well as in other countries in Europe, America and Africa. Works by Carmen Calvo can currently be seen in art institutions, museums and private collections all over the world, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Marugame Hirai in Kobe, the MACBA in Barcelona, the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain in Paris, the IVAM in Valencia, the Chase Manhattan Bank collection in New York, etc.