Blanca's Space Analysis

“Artist, painter, black belt at the 4º dan in judo, licensed through the Kodokan, in Tokyo”. This is how Yves Klein described himself in 1959, at his manifest Le dépassement de la problématique de l'art. But, instead of a judo master, Klein has proved himself to be a very influential artist. He was the one in charge of creating the ‘International Klein Blue’ or simply known as ‘Klein Blue’, one of the most used colors in today’s world: from fashion to art, it has captured the eyes from people all around the world. And once he discovered it, he painted everything blue. Now, Cayón Gallery offers at its ‘Blanca’s Space’ a retrospective of Klein’s works, but turning them upside down. Because, as Adolfo Cayón, owner of the Gallery states, “his paintings and sculptures were to him no more than the ashes of his art”.
“To him, art was a spiritual experience, almost as if he was a God”. Physic and spirit found its conjunction at his ‘anthropometries’, pieces that were created before an expectant audience and in which Klein directed naked women like, as he called ‘living paint brushes’. “Klein was a performancer at a time when there were no artists that dare to make performances” says Cayón, “and blue was to him more than just a color, it was a spiritual concept”. However, his performances, weren’t understood at his time. “It is now when we are starting to understand him, not then” Cayón assures. This is why now, for the first time in Europe and for the second time in the history of art (the first one was at the United States some years ago), the ‘Tactile Sculpture’ is shown at the gallery. It is exactly as it sounds: tactile. The visitor enters in a small and, at the center, there is a big, white box with a couple of holes to put your hands in them. “You have to touch, to feel. You would be amazed of the variety of reactions that I have seen”, he says,