Bodies

Rita Martorell is a young Catalan artist whose name has historic resonance in the history of art. We do not know if in fact she is a descendent of the great Hispano-Flemish painter Bernardo Martorell whose religious altarpieces are one of the glories of Catalan painting. What we know, however, is that she has a great gift for figure drawing, and that she faces challenges that could not be more different than those of the sixteenth century. In that period, talent was valued as it is know, but originality was not. The artist was told if not how to paint than what to paint. As a child of the twenty first century, Rita Martorell is not shackled by the conventions that characterize the religious art of the past. But this freedom to represent nude models--out of the question in puritinical Spain except for a few important exceptions until modern times--as well as the interest in figures in motion as opposed to the frozen poses of the past brings with it other challenges.These brush drawings are expressive summaries of bodies in motion that remind us of Ruidin's watercolors and Georgia O'Keeffe's early nude studies.

Today an artist may chose any subject, any medium, any type of expression. Yet it is precisely this limitless freedom that becomes problematic. As Rita Martorell searches, as every artist must, for a personal style and an individual vision, she has the advantage of a special gift for creating convincing contours and capturing life. She handles ink, graphite,
gouache and watercolor with assurance. The energy of her strokes and lines communicates a lively kinetic response to the active human form in space. The freshess of her quick sketches of landscape and the ability to capture likeness in a few deft strokes in her portraits is impressive. Hers is a natural talent for both painting and sculpture. What she does with it and how she uses her gifts depends on the choices she makes at a moment when there are no rules to guide the artist in pursuit of meaningful contemporary content.

Barbara Rose