Page 42 - Art at Mayfair Hotel Tunneln

Manuel Marin: Mobile, undated. 140 x 80 cm
Manuel Marín’s artwork is a so called mobile; a light sculptural shape consisting of multiple joined
parts hanging freely from the ceiling. It turns around its own axe when moved by the flow of air. Marín’s mobile is both rich on detail with its many thin arms and different shapes while it has got
a simplicity in its expression as well. This simplicity becomes visible because of the subtle use of colour. Only three elements in the mobile have the primary colours blue, yellow and red. The rest of the elements are black. The small, coloured parts function as refractions in the work while they stress the movement of the mobile. The coloured parts become an eyecatcher and a fixation point when the work spins around itself.
Manuel Marin (1942-2007, ES) was born in Spain but moved to London in 1962 where he worked as an assistant to the sculptor Henry Moore. In 1964 Marin moved to New York. here he worked as a conservator before he opened his own gallery under the name American Indian Art Gallery. He was in contact with artists such as Andy Warhol. Willem de Kooning and Jean Michel Basquiat. Marin’s interest in mobiles occured in the end of the 1960s and he exhibited his works for the first time in 1970 at Allan Brown Gallery in New York. Marin’s mobiles are in their expression close to that which Alexander Calder became recognized for. With Calder there are the same thin elements and use of colour. In 1997 Marin was prisoned for fraud. He and his wife Monica Sauvignon had forged artworks by Calder, among others. Despite his prison sentence Marin has had a legacy and several of his works are totally coveted.
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