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Mouse Eclipse
Original title: Eclipse de ratón
1991
Acrylic on canvas and paper
Dimensions: 250 x 175 cm
221 x 100 cm
Reference: ACF0194
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To a certain extent, Eclipse de ratón has a structure corresponding to the duality seen in the “duets” of the eighties. In this piece, however, the symmetry between the two parts that make up the artwork is broken and the axis that joins them displaced, so that the two pictures—different in format and size—overlap. What determines the unity of the work is the dynamic of the paint, which extends from one surface to the other through connections allowing for the parallel development of basic forms with strong narrative and visual overtones. On frequent occasions, Gordillo has defined these basic forms as “visual storylines”, as elements that also establish shared contexts for the different works.
Gordillo made this piece at a time when he was working very freely on fitting the different units together that were to comprise the end result of the painting. In his process, he applied a method that combined chance, the painting’s internal coherence and an architectural or constructive sense with strong imaginative overtones. The picture is composed of various other pictures, breaking with the stable, regular forms of squares or rectangles and allowing whimsical, angular combinations to appear. The result of this process is to turn the picture—and by extension painting—into an object, which from that moment forth becomes an essential and highly dynamic characteristic of his later work.
This process is based on the associative resources of paintings that are executed in parallel and live side by side in the studio for long periods of time. Gordillo thus combines chance with reflection and a well-considered calculation of possibilities, carrying out numerous preliminary tests. This allows for the same structure to serve as the origin of various works, which the process then makes radically different.
During this period, Gordillo undertook the systematic photographic documentation of these processes, which reveals key insights and eventually became an artistic product parallel to the painting.
