Gonzalo Borondo (Valladolid 1989) Insurrecta XIV (Perro Esfinge)

Gonzalo Borondo (Valladolid 1989)
Insurrecta XIV (Perro Esfinge)

Monotype on wallpaper

68x149 cm.
The present work is from the “Insurrecta” project, presented in Segovia to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the “Revuelta de los comuneros”.
To describe his concept of rebellion, Borondo elects monotype as his medium, a hybrid between painting and printing, imagining to distort its “original” substance, and to reproduce the artworks in scale on disused advertising billboards, with the support of the Municipality of Segovia. This choice is inspired by Goya’s series “Los caprichos” and “Los desastres de la guerra”. Borondo is interested in Goya’s intent to bring these topics closer to the public, and thus selects engraving as his narrative medium. With the pandemic, the contents of the project are modified by new ideas that are shaped on paper and in the Segovian landscape.Initially Borondo’s prints exalt revolt as an essential dimension of man, an aggressive motion necessary for the transformation of society and the evolution of the individual. Inverted crowns, scenes of struggle, fragments of fervor and destruction. The monotypes then reflect the isolation imposed by the lockdown, during which Borondo is confined to his studio without being able to constantly bond with his sites. The memory of the past connects with the new condition and his works now include balconies and windows alive with life, a distant crowd, people together but desolate. As a consequence of this confinement, the cities empty, animals and plants take back urban spaces, fill the void and invade it. This phenomenon attracts the artist who has always been interested in the relationship between man and his environment: this metaphor becomes the basic theme for “Insurrecta. The rebels are animals that struggle to free themselves from captivity and remission, to regain possession of their instincts and of nature. Borondo chooses the bull, the horse and the dog as symbolic animals for this revolt, animals always close to man but at the same time with an impulsive temperament that can suddenly lead to rebellion.