Los Carpinteros at Matadero (Madrid, Spain)

Los Carpinteros, who are represented by Ivorypress, will present Candela, a new, site-specific installation at Matadero Madrid, Spain on 26 January. Candela is a back-lit sculptural drawing of flames, measuring 736 linear meters, installed on the perimeter walls of the vast Matadero exhibition space. The multi-layered work employs the ambiguity surrounding the meaning of the word candela, the mutable properties of fire, and reflects the history of the space itself: the building, a former slaughterhouse in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, caught fire in the 1990s when it was abandoned, before it was transformed into the contemporary art centre it has since become. The exhibition will be on view from 26 January through 21 April, 2013.

The installation Candela plays on the several meanings of its title. Merriam-Webster defines the word candela as ‘the base unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units’. However, despite this rigid, internationally recognised definition, the word has many other meanings in different Spanish-speaking regions, some of which are contradictory to one another. In Cuba, where the artists are from, candela refers to a complicated situation or an astute person. In Spain, Candela is a woman’s name, but also literally translates to mean a candle, a candlestick, a flower or blossom of the chestnut tree, a light, a fire, ‘the heart of the matter’ and even a firefly. The installation, which draws on the imagery of fire and its varied connotations, employs a technique of back-lighting traditionally used in monumental political portraits in public spaces in Cuba, much like the image of Che Guevara in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. Candela evokes a multiplicity of meanings and connotations in a dynamic installation that animates Matadero’s complex and vast exhibition space.

​For more information on the exhibition, please visit the Matadero Madrid website.