LITA CABELLUT
FAIRY FLOWERS
1
Fairy Flowers
by Gili Karev - Art Critic
It is a rare pleasure to witness and write about the progression of an artists’s work over a concentrated period
of time. In the case of Lita Cabellut, this past year has seen the realisation of three distinctive yet interrelated
series. Exploring, among other things, the infrastructure and complexity of beauty as manifested in the
female form, Cabellut’s work has transitioned as subtly as that of a young girl maturing into womanhood
- consistent, philosophically intricate, and ultimately surprising - perhaps even slightly unnerving. In ‘Fairy
Flowers’ we find Cabellut intermixing more turbulent sculptural works together with classical portraiture, in a
way that suggests an abstraction of apparently conspicuous figurative concepts. Working in tandem with the
works on the wall, Cabellut’s ownership of space elaborates on the expansiveness of beauty in a given sphere:
how it is born out of, interacts with, and thrives on its given surroundings.
My own reflection on Cabellut’s work takes the liberty of addressing it in stages, with each new body of work
functioning separately and concurrently with the one preceding it. In ‘Fairy Flowers’, I see a continuation of
her series entitled ‘Impulse’, which united elements of sublimity, pleasure and pain to examine our inherent
attraction to imperfection. Bringing to question the dichotomy between beauty and the sublime; pleasure and
violence, ‘Impulse’ entangled the viewer in a distorted revival of classical theories while reclaiming possession
of female beauty - an accolade typically granted by society and its patriarchal constructs. In ‘Colour of Dew’,
Cabellut combined the tantalising beauty of femininity with the intuitive effects of colour. Confronting our
immediate emotional response to contrasting components, her figures appeared blanketed in brilliant hues
of pink and turquoise. Yet shrouded with an expression of sadness and a weighted posture, the women seem
heavy with the burden of their beauty.
A shift occurs in ‘Fairy Flowers’. The women have grown wiser; their thorns pricklier, their presence more
formidable and self-assured. They emerge vividly from contrasting backgrounds, no longer shy but declaratively
present, their portraits embellished by the frozen movement of three-dimensional forms. Beautiful still, but
also durable and independent, suspended in a moment of blossoming and growth.
*COVER, Fairy Flower 03, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
200 x 180 cm - 78.7 x 70.9 in.
2
3
FAIRY FLOWERS
4
5
6
Fairy Flower 06, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
150 x 150 cm - 59 x 59 in.
7
Color of Dew 03, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
8
Fairy Flower 01, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
9
10
Fairy Flower 09, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
Color of Dew 20, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
80 x 80 cm - 31.5 x 31.5 in.
11
12
Fairy Flower 07
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
13
14
Divine 01, 2015
Photography on Dibond
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
Divine 02, 2015
Photography on Dibond
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
15
16
Color of Dew 10, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
Color of Dew 23, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
80 x 80 cm - 31.5 x 31.5 in.
17
18
Color of Dew 09, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
19
20
Passion, 2016
Photography on Dibond
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
Delirium, 2016
Photography on Dibond
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
21
22
Fairy Flower 10,2016
Mixed media on canvas
250 x 200 cm - 98.4 x 78.7 in.
Fairy Flower 05, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
200 x 180 cm -78.7 x 70.9 in.
23
24
Color of Dew 26, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
80 x 80 cm - 31.5 x 31.5 in.
Fairy Flower 02, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
25
26
Color of Dew 16, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
260 x 200 cm - 102.4 x 78.7 in.
27
28
Fairy Flower 04, 2016
Mixed media on canvas
200 x 180 cm - 78.7 x 70.9 in.
29
30
Bodas de Sangre, 2015
Flower installation
H: 150 cm - 59 in.
31
32
Tempus Triptych
Mixed media on canvas
33
145 x 430 cm - 57.1 x 169.3 in.
34
35
Color of Dew 12, 2015
Mixed media on canvas
150 x 150 cm - 59 x 59 in.
36
37
38
Gentleness, 2016
Photography on Dibond
215 x 145 cm - 84.6 x 57 in.
39
40
41
Lita Cabellut
Lita Cabellut was born into a Gipsy family in Barcelona in 1961. She lived on the streets until the age
of 12 before being adopted by a prominent family. She was then introduced to the Spanish masters
at the Prado Museum, where she was deeply influenced by the paintings of Velázquez, Goya and
Frans Hals. A prolific contemporary portraitist, the young Cabellut was inspired by the ubiquitous
fresco paintings in her hometown. She spent four years in classical training before holding her first
exhibition at the Town Hall of Masnou, Barcelona at the age of seventeen. At nineteen, she left her
native Spain to study at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, which is where she
remains today to live and work. Over the years, Cabellut has developed a unique technique that
yields an inimitable quality and texture to her work, painting large-scale portraits incorporating
traditional fresco techniques with modern applications of oil paint. She also developed a unique
technique for installations and ‘Hybride’ photography, combining her materials in a 3 dimensional
experience.
Major museum exhibitions
2012 - 2013: Retrospective, Tricot Winterswijk, Winterswijk, The Netherlands
2014: Here To Stay, Kunststation Kleinsassen, Berlin, Germany
2014: Exhibition of 100 Masterpieces, Seoul Art Centre, Seoul, South Korea
2014: Black Tulip, State Visit Okura Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
2015: Black Tulip, the Golden Age, Mumbai & New Delhi, India
2015: Permanent collection Trilogy of Doubt 15, Museo Arte Contemporanea, Sicilia
2015: Permanent collection Trilogy of Truth, European Museum of Modern Art MEAM, Barcelona, Spain
Exhibitions to come
2016: Chaplin, Royal Opera House, Muscat, Oman
2017: Solo exhibition, Museo de Arte Contemporano Gas Natural Fenosa, La Coruña, Spain
2017 - 2018: Retrospective, Vila Casas Foundation Volart, Barcelona, Spain
42
43
LITA CABELLUT
FAIRY FLOWERS
Beirut 2016
44