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 ABSTRACT:
H.M. The King. H.M.
The Queen - Xavier Corbero
Barcelona-born and based, this Catalan sculptor is considered
one of the best and most idiosyncratic sculptors in Europe. Son
and grandson of artists and artisans, heir to the tradition of
Catalan surrealism, Corbero's work is finely crafted, full of
metaphorical richness, variety, and wit. The hulking, overscale
9 1/2 foot tall King and Queen are part of a 1988 installation
entitled "The Catalan Opening", a chess gambit. The
16 original pieces included knights, bishops, rooks, and pawns,
all carved from basalt, a brittle volcanic rock. Basalt is too
hard to chisel and can only be sawed or broken, so that each piece
becomes a sort of "found object", bearing a memory of
the raw look it had in the quarry. Art historical allusions -
the Miroesque comb in the Queen's hair, the chiseling in the archaic
tradition - as well as historical references to Arabic influence
in bringing chess, among other gifts, to Spain, add to the evocative
richness of these geometric monoliths.
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