Visual Poetry: Ars Combinatoria by Chema Madoz

13 May Visual Poetry: Ars Combinatoria by Chema Madoz

Ars Combinatoria:  is the art of combination, the combining of objects, some of which are markedly different while others are akin, related. Hence the title of the exhibition held at La Pedrera in Barcelona, which is a nod to the combinatory arts developed in the 13th and 14th centuries by the Majorcan philosopher Ramon Llull (known in the English-speaking world as Raymond Lully), which many regard as a precursor of the computer.

A poet of the image, Madoz uses photography as a means to redefine his relationship with his immediate surroundings. His work focuses on the unusual presence of the items he chooses and arranges in intimate settings— which he himself builds—and then photographs in black and white. The air of poetry he thus extracts from these objects means that however ordinary or humble they may be, they are now open to new and varied readings.

Madoz employs a range of different types of objects in his work: the objet trouvé, a found object without any alteration, the manipulated object and the object that he himself invents and makes in his studio.Madoz employs a range of different types of objects in his work: the objet trouvé, a found object without any alteration, the manipulated object and the object that he himself invents and makes in his studio.

In his constant fascination with them, he returns to these objects, transforming them, attempting to establish their various combinations and their initially hidden connections, and exploring visual illusions.