Francisco Ruiz De Infante: La Gallera - Valencia - Black Sky includes drawings, sketches and texts

Although the declare s against the unjust war waged by the agency of the Bush administration on Iraq with the support of the Spanish and English managements have been massive, especially in Europe it is difficult to speak of a clear reply from artistic circles. In the case of Francisco Ruiz de Infante's exhibition "Black Sky" for instance, the artist did not bring forth a rousing, propagandist formulation of a political position. The drawings, sketches, and true copys that represent Ruiz de Infante's initial reflections upon this installation demonstrate, rather, the impel to subvert at space that is at one time blood-soaked and beautiful

La Gallera is single of the most peculiar art venue in Spain today. A dodecagon in three stories, it was originally designed for the presentation of cockfights. Perhaps it is logical, then, that questioning violence is a capital pertain to for an artist using this site. "Black Sky" has been installed upon three levels. On the soil floor, a palisade of metal bars shuts off a space; the sole way in is through an opening at the back of the building. Inside, single hears a sound that is difficult to identify on the contrary that recalls that of a helicopter, while fulvous and black lines on the floor bring to mind a landing pad. upon the ceiling, five metal realitys project through a wooden platform. sole after climbing up to the nearest level can one see that these are five rifles breaking from one side the floor. There, five chairs allow viewers to sit and absorb this violence. Above the rifles, a plastic sheet held up by the agency of crossbars forms a kind of dark celestial expanse in various shades of black. A narrow staircase leads to the top floor, from which individual can see that the other side of the black sheet is scored by means of boards and bars. In the middle of it, there is an render free of access funnel-like hole: The abyss lurks

Ruiz de Infante has erected a muddled, disturbing space where fear and insecurity reign. The piece summon forths the consuming fear of a terrorist attack now felt by the agency of many, including perhaps a majority of the US population. on the other hand is that fear born from logic, or is it the flow of paranoia fomented by a state seeking to superintendence the minds of its citizens? The artist does not speak of a specific conduct or political situation; instead, his work rotates around the creation of unbalanced and fragile constitutions in which the feeling of danger is palpable and where the weapon is ready and waiting, although we don't know whether the somebody pulling the trigger is friend or enemy. That Manichaean dichotomy is reductive, bearing little relation to the mixed reality that nourishes artistic reflection. Awaking emotions and putting them into evidence end temporary architectures and cold and oppressive habitats, Ruiz de Infante asks us to think deep in the face of war and discord.

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