by Gabriel Sencial

With the purpose of promoting and disseminating women's art in Mexico to reposition it as an important part of the development of our country, the Directorate of the Museum of Art of Querétaro, MAQRO, took on the task of bringing together 24 artists of national and international stature to carry out the exhibition The Absent Structure in its second version.

Notable women in art representing Mexico City, Queretaro and San Miguel de Allende, will be the ones who will delight us with their diverse artistic expressions, their unparalleled talents and their great strength and passion.

Abstract art employs a visual language based on shape, color, and line to create a composition that boasts a high degree of independence from the visual references of the world. Western art, from the Renaissance to the mid-nineteenth century, had been sustained by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of three-dimensional visible reality. Arts from cultures other than Europe became accessible and showed alternative ways of describing the visual experience to the artist.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, many artists felt the need to create a new kind of science, religion, and philosophy. The sources from which individual artists drew their innovations were diverse and reflected social and intellectual concerns in all areas of Western culture at the time. For example, both Picasso and Pollock had an enormous impact on the outcome of modern art through their ability to challenge viewers as they interpret art, not by what the painting shows, but by what it embodies the idea it represents. For example, Picasso's painting Guernica is now an iconic symbol of an anti-war message, and Pollock's paintings today represent a form of freedom of expression.

The goal of abstraction in art is not to tell a special story, but to encourage the viewer's involvement with an aesthetic form and stimulate their imagination. Abstract artists are free to explore their subjects from various perspectives, textures, colors, shapes, values, lines, geometries, and situations. Movement can be shown like never before. By simply adding abstract elements to their works, artists can increase their evocative capacity.

On the other hand, contemporary painting no longer reflects a contrast between abstract art and figurative art, as these approaches flow together or coexist without conflict. This freedom of choice and expression provides abstract painting with limitless structural and design approaches; as well as greater opportunities to evoke its universal meaning and content.

Art is important to us because it taps into our deepest, most unconscious feelings. This power is very clear when studied in relation to abstract art. As Harley Hahn points out, "The reason abstract art is so powerful is because it keeps conscious distractions to a minimum." Instead of focusing on a particular image, such as a fruit or flower, abstraction allows us to feel the energy of the painting.

The nature of abstract painting, in short, is for the viewer to experience an ever-evolving understanding. That's part of the excitement. It stays open. Like culture itself, there is no final resolution to successful painting: it continues to evolve and evoke.

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Gabriel Sencial is an artist, born in Colombia, trained there and in the United States, who now works in Healdsburg, California. Gabriel's work has spanned four decades, from his beginning in Medellin, winning art competitions and praise from the great Colombian artist Fernando Botero. He's worked in many media, from early paintings of Medellin buses, to powerful abstracts to his latest work in collage and other mixed media.

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