Magda Bolumar

MAGDA BOLUMAR (Caldes d’Estrac, Barcelona, 1936)
"Interferències," Mollet, 1995.
Oil and collage on burlap mounted on wood.
Signed, located, and dated.
Measurements: 120 x 163 cm; 122 x 165 cm with frame.

A composition of great material and textural power, constructed using burlap, paint, and collage. The work is organized through triangular structures, taut forms, and points of light that seem to float above an intense violet background, creating an image that lies somewhere between the architectural, the cosmic, and the scenographic.

The piece is directly linked to her well-known “xarpelleres,” the name given to Magda Bolumar’s works on burlap and woven jute, which she began creating in the 1960s. In these works, Bolumar transforms the textile medium into a field of artistic experimentation, where the material, the thread, the relief, and the color take on an essential presence.

The title reinforces the interpretation of the work as a network of signals, intersections, and tensions. The forms seem to communicate with one another like structures suspended in a nocturnal space, while the red, yellow, and orange spotlights introduce an almost electric vibration. The result is a work of remarkable visual presence, representative of the artist’s maturity and her personal exploration of the intersection between painting, textiles, and objects.

Magda Bolumar Chertó is a Catalan artist born in Caldes d’Estrac in 1936. She trained with Rafael Estrany and at the School of Arts and Crafts in Mataró; in the mid-1950s, she came into contact with members of Dau al Set and with the sculptor Moisès Villèlia, with whom she began a collaborative exploration of primary materials in art.

Beginning in 1960, she developed her characteristic works on woven burlap or jute—known as xarpelleres—in which she brought painting into the realm of textiles with a sensibility close to the poetics of Joan Miró and the spirit of the Catalan avant-garde. His work is represented at the Reina Sofía Museum and the MACBA, among other institutions.