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Japanese XI

Japanese XI

EUGENIO MONTORO AYBAR

2025

Ballpoint pen and pencil on paper mounted on wood

Tamaño 12,5 x 20 cm

  • Concept of the drawing

    The artwork "Japoneses XI" serves as the definitive conclusion to "Act III. The Code of the Ballpoint Drawings (The Secret Messages)", bringing the entire graphic series on wood to a close. Departing from the rectangular format of preceding compositions, this work adopts the circular form of the tondo, functioning as a closing seal, an introspective mirror, and the final synthesis where the emancipated voice reaches a state of serene self-sovereignty.

    Compositional Analysis and Visual Structure

    • The Circular Format (Tondo and the Cycle's Resolution): Choosing a circular support breaks away from the extended panoramic format of earlier diptychs, focusing the gaze onto a single, intimate plane. The circle evokes the completion of the investigative and life cycle, acting like a magnifying lens trained on the protagonist's reclaimed subjectivity.
    • The Contemporary Protagonist's Gaze: Occupying the center of the piece is the close-up portrait of a young woman with dark hair, textured bangs, and round glasses framed in fine blue and emerald-green wire. Looking through the lenses, vivid green eyes engage the viewer directly with absolute clarity and without a trace of fear. Her softly blushed cheeks and parted lips, revealing the tip of her tongue in a subtle gesture of quiet wit, solidify her archetype as a woman in full command of her intellect and voice.
    • Cerulean Contour and Typographic Collage: The figure is set off by the electric blue halo characteristic of the graphic language throughout Act III. Flanking her shoulders are fragments of printed text in Japanese characters, integrated into the collage like remnants of ethical treaties, legal documents, or existential inquiries.
    • Botanical Ground in Blue and Ochre: Enfolding the protagonist's head, an ornamental ground of large peonies and foliage blossoms in sky-blue, white, and ochre accents, over which a small dark butterfly flutters. Nature ceases to be a decorative cage and becomes an aura of restored peace.

    Placement in the Exhibition Narrative

    • Closing of the Evidentiary Dossier: Japoneses XI formally closes the testimonial archive rendered in ballpoint pen. Following the clash of divergent worlds (Japoneses I), the horror and trauma of abuse (Japoneses II, VI, and VII), flight (Japoneses V), and the assertion of complicit laughter (Japoneses VIII and X), this artwork cements the image of someone who has crossed the abyss and returned whole, in full possession of her own gaze.
    • Triumph Over the Silence of Hanazono: The piece seals the exhibition's resolution: the silence imposed by the dark alley and patriarchal tradition has been definitively dismantled. The depicted woman no longer hides behind the ritual mask of the geisha nor remains immobilized under resin; she is an autonomous, thinking contemporary presence whose open countenance bids farewell to the viewer, affirming the final victory of life over fear.
€970.00Price

Art Gallery NIKA is a new art space located in Málaga, right on the seafront. The rooms are perfectly designed to exhibit various art pieces and handcrafted decor objects.

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