This afternoon, I walked to the barrio of El Molinillo, a part of the Old Town I visited once before, but reached it from a different direction. This time I went up Calle Ollerias, found the Parish Church of Santa Cruz & St Philip Neri, wrapped around by some narrow streets. I stopped to take a photo of the west facade, and had a sense of deja-vu. No matter where I stood in the little plaza in front of the church, I was too close to capture the whole. Then I remember having had the same problem when I was here last summer. When I checked my photo archive, the reason was obvious. I'd used the same camera! If I'd taken my Sony HX300 with me I'd have got a different result, as this has a wider angle lens. So, I'll have to try again another day.
A few hundred metres away from the church is the Convento de la Merced, dating from the late 19th century. The Hermanas Mercedarias de la Caridad, an institute for the religious life was founded in Malaga in 1878, its ministry is 'works of mercy'. The exterior of the church has acquired a striking coat of dark red paint. It wasn't open to visit but seems to be still in use. The ancilliary buildings of the convent have been taken over by the Ajuntamiento and converted into an art gallery with its own built in workshop cum studio for painters. It's dedicated to the eminient Malaguenian expressionista Jorge Rando, born in 1941 and still at work. He recently partnered with a German artist to mount a special art-work to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, in Hamburg.
Expressionist artists are few and far between in Spain. Expressionism is a movement of modern art, which explores through form and colour the inner experience of big picture concepts, like suffering, conflict, hope, solidarity, nature, cosmos, to name but a few. Imagery used is suggestive, and mostly abstract, making use of colour to convey feeling. His work was very well presented in various rooms and around a cloister area, with quotations from the artist and commentators relating to the works. It was most intriguing. I'd like to return and spend a longer, more reflective time there.
Walking on a few hundred metres further, I came to the Mercado de Salamanca. It's a food market hemmed in by drab apartment blocks and a through road. It looks like it could do with a coat of paint or at least a good wash. Nevertheless, it is an extraordinary edifice, a single space hall, built in the Moorish Mudejar style, in red, green and white, decorated with patterned friezes of tiles. It is situated quite near the banks of the rio Guadalmedina, and La Rosaleda, Malaga's football stadium. It was about a kilometre's walk from there back to the Alameda, and the way back to La Malagueta via the port.
Just where two grand classical columns announce the main entrance to the port's administrative hub and passenger entrance to the various ferry terminals, I found the third of Elena Laverón's sculptures loaned to the city, following last year's exhibition in the Palmeria de las Sorpresas. Unlike the others which are bronzes, this one is cast or moulded from particles of crushed stone, by what process, I do not know. I'm not sure it's concrete of some kind, unless it's been highly polished to give it a smooth surface. This was how I knew it was one of hers, as I remembered its texture, plus the fact that it was one of very few sculptures which were not in bronze. My photo album of last summer confirmed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment