El mito de Dánae, de sobra conocido, alberga una intensa carga narrativa en la que entra en juego lo más extremado del claroscuro en el que se desarrolla el existir. Los momentos más luminosos del relato, la belleza de Dánae, la cámara de reverberante metal, la fulgurante pasión de Zeus, la lluvia de oro, o la preñez de la hija prisionera, son confrontados a todo un océano de obscuridad en el que cunde la incertidumbre de un oráculo siniestro, la negrura de un encierro abismal, las penumbras del terror de un padre verdugo… y todo cuanto a partir de estas secuencias va teniendo lugar en una continuidad sin final.
Este es el escenario y este es el reto: la construcción de un simulacro. La deconstrucción de una metamorfosis. Y más allá de cuanto acabamos de abordar, otra nueva tarea se alza reclamando un renovado empeño, como es el de la reivindicación de la Pintura como forma de expresión artística perfectamente válida, social y artísticamente válida, en momentos de tozudo negacionismo respecto de tal potencial y tal vivencia.
Nos encontramos pues, situados ante las obras que componen esta muestra, invitados a un doble banquete: el de la contemplación y el disfrute de esas construcciones del orden de lo artístico inmediato, a la par que solicitados para situarnos en el corazón de una controversia de gran calado, la lucha por la permanencia de la Pintura y por el valor de su legado.
On reaching the age which he himself celebrates and embraces under the ironic name of post-maturity, the artist Carlos León is currently tackling the production of new series of pieces in which his extensive experience allows him to immerse himself in new creative adventures that draw on renewed sources of inspiration and are open to whatever changes are taking place in the field of social reality, in the unfolding of what is now becoming history, and in everything that is shaping the broadening of the horizon that lies before our eyes.
Among the most recent of these series of works of art is one produced last summer entitled “Suite Dánae”. León takes on the challenge of recreating one of the best-known episodes in Greek mythology in the form of paintings, an assemblage, and a written text that attempts to materialise by weaving itself around all of this.
The well-known myth of Dánae is rich in narrative content, bringing into play the most extreme chiaroscuro, in which existence unfolds. The brightest moments of the story – Dánae’s beauty, the reverberating metal chamber, Zeus’s dazzling passion, the shower of gold, and the pregnancy of the imprisoned daughter – are all confronted by an ocean of darkness over which spreads the uncertainty of a sinister oracle, the blackness of an abysmal confinement, the shadows of terror of a murderous father... and everything that takes place from these sequences onwards in endless continuity.
This is the scenario and this is the challenge: the construction of a simulacrum. The deconstruction of a metamorphosis. Beyond what we have just addressed, a further new task arises, demanding renewed commitment, namely the vindication of painting as a perfectly valid form of artistic expression, socially and artistically valid, at a time of stubborn denial of its potential and experience.
Hence we find ourselves standing before the pieces that make up this exhibition, invited to a double feast: that of contemplation and enjoyment of these constructions of the immediate artistic order, while at the same time we are asked to place ourselves at the heart of a far-reaching controversy, the struggle for the permanence of painting and the value of its legacy.
