At first glance, Armando and Melanie don't have much in common. He is a Sevillian man barely in his thirties. She is a former nurse in her sixties who lives in the small British town of Cornwall. However, when you see them together, you can perceive the powerful link that unites them, and which transcends geographical and age barriers: art as a way of life.
During the month of February, Armando Radabán and Melanie Johns - known artistically as Overlap - have shared a workspace in the former's studio in Calle Goles in Seville. In the studio, full of finished works and works in progress by Armando, you can also see some creations by Mel, who, seduced by the influence of the city, resorts to everyday elements such as supermarket advertising to give her work a new dimension.
The visitor can also find some works in common. A mixture of the vibrant colours of Armando's work - whose paintings take landscape as a reference point and are inspired by painters such as Katharina Grosse, Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian - and the geometry that characterises many of Overlap's works, we find a creation that recalls the colourful tiles that decorate Andalusian and Moroccan courtyards.
Not in vain, as Melanie explains, the experience in Andalusia allows her to discover that hidden element, the surprise factor that only appears before the eyes of those who approach a hitherto unknown reality for the first time.
This artistic collaboration has been made possible thanks to the initiative The Twist, an action that is part of the European project CARPET (Craft Art and People Together) of the Fundación Tres Culturas. The aim of this project is to facilitate the mobility and work of artists from the different countries participating in CARPET: Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom and Morocco.
But the creative process cannot be induced. It is part of that mysterious universe that encompasses artist and work, and is always accompanied by hard work and passion. That is why The Twist does not oblige and does not expect a concrete result. It only seeks to give creators who, without a little help, it would be difficult for them to coincide, like Melanie and Armando, the opportunity to get to know and influence each other. The creation of these joint workspaces allows participants to share knowledge and experiences freely, so that they can bring different perspectives to their own works.
In Armando Rabadán's words, "it's all very experimental; it's about discovering each other's energy and, with luck, synergies are born that will give rise to something new that will perhaps accompany us for the rest of our artistic lives. Because each person, each artist, is a well of information and stimuli for the other".
To continue this link, at the beginning of May Armando will travel to Cornwall to work in Melanie Johns' workshop, located in a school that has been converted into an art space. coworking where a multitude of artistic and craft disciplines are practised. Mel's great passion for art brought her there, and thanks to the Krowji Graduate Studio Award. After a professional life devoted to nursing, her evolution as a multidisciplinary plastic artist finally allowed her to settle in this small village to become Overlap and devote herself entirely to creating.
In the complex process of shaping a style, a signature, everything has an influence. That is why his artistic philosophy has a lot to do with the profession to which he has devoted half his life. "For years I worked on the concept of preventive medicine. Actions that do not seek to cure, but to keep our health in good condition. For me art is the same. I don't consider it a therapy (although it may have that aspect) but a way of keeping our mind healthy, our creativity and balance. That's why, as something that improves and enriches life, art should be open to all citizens.
From another perspective, Rabadán stresses this idea of sharing art with the general public: "Opening the studios to visitors so that they can see where the works are created and grow and get to know their natural habitat favours the connection with the art and with the creator, as on many occasions the exhibition spaces, so aseptic, steal part of the strength and meaning of the work. And in this sense, the Fundación Tres Culturas is doing a great job, to erase the public's incomprehension of art".
For his part, Overlap bases his work on actions in which he involves other people in their realisation, with a special interest in everyday acts. His work is closely related to the environment and sustainability, with drawing and geometry as the basis for his studies. He regularly develops practices in collaboration with different citizen collectives in order to give art that social sense it should never have been stripped of.
Both, in their own way, attempt to bridge the gap between the visual arts and the general public, which is still open despite the efforts of many contemporary artists to bring their message closer to the uninitiated.
"In the visual arts, and especially in the contemporary arts, is where this distance is most noticeable," Rabadán laments. "The enjoyment of music, for example, is widespread in all social strata because it doesn't require an explanation, it comes directly to the senses. But in the case of the plastic arts it is different. Children and young people are not trained to enjoy a contemporary painting or sculpture and simply do not know how to appreciate it".
Art wants to communicate. It wants to live beyond the museum and the bourgeois salon. It has been crying out for centuries. But to achieve this goal it is necessary for artists and institutions to get involved. The former, by opening their doors to all those who wish to look into the cosmos that is a atelier. Explaining, involving the mere observer who will gradually become a lover. The latter, by promoting policies and initiatives that facilitate the approach to this sphere that the ferocious laws of the market have (inevitably) kept away from the general public.
The Fundación Tres Culturas has been doing its bit in this always unfinished work for years. Exhibitions and initiatives of this kind have formed an essential part of the philosophy and programming of this institution for the last two decades. Bringing people together through knowledge.
For example, the Red CARPET Open Studio Tour: a tour of different studios and creative spaces in the centre of the city of Seville in which Armando Rabadán himself took part, who, despite being in Istanbul at the time, enjoyed seeing his workshop overflowing with people.
There is still much to be done. In the meantime, at Tres Culturas we continue to vindicate the work of the artist and to support the power of art.
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