Terence Gower + Barragán

El Muro Rojo, 2005
Photograph on panel, paint. Panel: 140 x 100 x 5 cm. Wall: 5.3 x 13.25metres

In this installation an enormous red wall supports a 100 x 140 cm black and white photograph. This photograph is a retake of Armando Salas Portugal's famous image of the roof patio of Luis Barragán's house in Mexico City. The artist commissioned architectural photographer Jorgedel Olmo to copy the Salas Portugal image.
In the photograph of El Muro Rojo, the viewer sees different tones of grey represent the trademark bright colours of Barragán's architecture. This is contrasted with the emotional impact of the enormous red wall which supports the photograph.

This can contribute to two distinct readings of Barragán's work: the experience of his work as pure plane and volume, as displayed in the black and white printed sources of his time, and on the other hand the intense spatial/optical experience of visiting his architecture and coming into contact with the brightly coloured planes. The two separate elements of El Muro Rojo effectively separate these retinal and physical encounters with Barragán's architecture. But at the same time they are recombined through the close juxtaposition of the black andwhite photograph and the huge red wall.

http://www.terencegower.com