ART REVIEW

by Dr. Barbara Aust-Wegemund, Art Critic

A lifelong fascination with painting shapes the work of Marissa Calbet, who is selected from the Jury Committee of Rotterdam International Art Fair to present her recent works in Rotterdam. This art fair, which takes place 12th to 13th September 2014, is a showcase of modern and contemporary art in the beautiful setting of the medieval Laurenskerk. The private view and opening reception offers an exciting and elegant international art fair and exhibition. Some of this year’s highlights include the artworks on canvas by Marissa Calbet, which invites art lovers to discuss about it.

The artist who lives and works in Cambrils in Spain, was amazed how her paintings did attract the public’s attention. In review Marissa Calbet explains the intention about her work: “My paintings are deeply involved in nature, on the one hand related to the process of painting, on the other in the reflection on the origin and shape. By evoking contrasts between light and dark with different structures, I create both transparency and depth.”

Marissa Calbet, born in Reus (Spain) in 1963, is living and working in Cambrils, where she has opened her studio in 2005. Her work has been featured worldwide (Vienna, London, Paris, New York, Toronto, Montreal among othrers) and is held in private collections. In 2012 she was awarded at the Academy of the Art-Science-Letters of France with the Academy’s Art Bronze Medal.

Marissa Calbet who is a member of the Academy of the Art-Science-Letters of France, likes to point out her artistic concept: “With a special focus on oil, preferring to work with the spatula I am discovering sailboats hidden in the fog, boats that move to the compass of calm or rough seas, lakes with their atmosphere, smooth landscapes many colours and reflections in the water in a hushed sonority.”

The relationship between Marissa Calbet and the sea started soon as the young artist established. Impressed by the landscape with the effects of light and atmosphere of her seascapes, she creates works with its careful and strongly horizontal representation of the sky and the atmosphere. Her paintings were admitted in Rotterdam, with focus on the hidden realism of the work and the use of a very definite brushstrokes. Marissa Calbet’s works represent a momentary mood under a strong "plein air" light. The paintings are so delightful that we are immediately tempted to sit on one of boats or to walk along the lake to observe the reflections in nature and colors of Indian Summer.

The first thing that draws our attention is the intense fog, which merges all shapes and colors of the canvas, so we can hardly see any details. The second is the fact, that her brush stroke is giving an almost abstract quality to the surface of the canvas. Almost most seascapes are horizontally conceived, interpreting the horizon, the limit between sea and sky, is the key element in the composition. Marissa Calbet’s works are unique for explore also an asymmetrical composition of high verticality.

One of the greatest contributions of Marissa Calbet to contemporary landscape painting is the introduction of the concept of "series" in which a single subject is represented in various paintings under different conditions of light and weather. So the represented material subject loses importance when compared to other immaterial elements such as light and color, and to the observation of how these elements vary with time.

Marissa Calbet transfers a quite romantic message in her work. As the poet and critic Charles Baudelaire wrote in 1846, "Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling."

About the Artist:

News: Open Studio Days!

Studio Marissa Calbet
Av. Mas de Clariana, 61, 1er B.
43850 Vilafortuny – Cambrils
Province of Tarragona, Spain
Phone +34 615 951445
Email: marissacalbet@gmail.com
www. marissacalbet.com

Exhibition in Rotterdam & in the Artist Studio
Rotterdam International Art Fair 2014
www.artfairrotterdam.com

September 12 - October 13

About the Author:

Dr. Barbara Aust-Wegemund, born in Zuerich/ Switzerland, is a German Art Historian and Managing Director at Art History Consulting (AHC). She studied Art History at Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Germany), University for Foreigners Perugia (Italy) and London Guildhall University (UK).

In 2002 she earned her PhD from University of Kiel with a Dissertation on Modern Sculpture: “Sources of Inspiration.The Meaning of Nature in Henry Moore´s Late Work.” The art historian and art critic has written widely on modern and contemporary art. Her essays have been featured in monographs, exhibition catalogues, e-zines, journals and the online editorial department of Goethe Institute Inter Nationes.

Contact Author:
Email: aust-wegemund@t-online.de
www.arthistoryconsulting.de