Local Colour is a Foreign Invention
2020 – present


Pigmented inks prints on Hahnemühle paper.
Dimensions variable.

Leer en español


Painting and geography. In this series, I depart from the well-known phrase of the writer Jorge Luis Borges Local colour is a foreign invention to question whether it is possible to find out the local colour of certain specific geographical areas.

For this, I have looked at how Western artists from different eras have depicted the sky in painting, from XVIIth century to the present. These fragments of painted skies, collected from museums’ websites, are treated as colour samples that are, then, organised chromatically following the Pantone scale in the form of a grid. The information of the name of the author of the painting, the date of its execution and the title are also indicated, generating jumps in time that connect the experience of artists from different origins and generations in front of a landscape.

Addressing themes like identity, colonialism, trade, nationalism, globalisation and climate change, I seek to transcend political boundaries and highlight similarities in the human experience connected to specific landscapes and climates.







Press/ Texts:
· ‘Cristina Garrido: hay mucha descarga y pantallazo en mi proceso de trabajo’. El Cultural, Luisa Espino (2020).
 
Related Publications:
· Cristina Garrido. The Best Job in the World. Ed. Fundación DIDAC (2022).

Exhibitions:
· Tierra Siena, azul de Delft, bermellón de China (solo exhibition). The Goma (Madrid, Spain, 2020).
· Trois Collectioneurs #8 (group exhibition). Cur. Edgard F. Grima. Été 78 (Brussels, Belgium, 2021).
· Color. El conocimiento de lo invisible (group exhibition). Cur. María Santoyo, Miguel Ángel Delgado. Espacio Fundación Telefónica (Madrid, Spain, 2021). 
· Nouages
(group exhibition). Cur. Claire Leblanc. La Maison des Arts (Brussels, Belgium, 2021). 
· Roots and Labels. A Travelling Geography (solo exhibition). Iris Project (Los Angeles, USA, 2022).
· Correspondencias: Tino Grandío (group exhibition). Cur. Cooperativa Performa. Centro Obra Social ABANCA (Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2023 - 2024).
· El color local es un invento extranjero [Local Colour is a Foreign Invention] (solo exhibition). PHotoESPAÑA 2024 - Sala de exposiciones ‘Las Francesas’ (Valladolid, Spain, 2024).

Selected Collections:
· TBA21 - Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Privatstiftung.
· Cloud Seven, Brussels.
· Utopicus Art, Madrid. 

Credits:
General installation views and details of the exhibition Tierra Siena, azul de Delft, bermellón de China, The Goma (Madrid, Spain, 2020).
Local Colour is a Foreign Invention (British Islands) (2020). 134 x 149 cm.
Local Colour is a Foreign Invention (Paris) (2020). 127,5 x 124,5 cm.
Local Colour is a Foreign Invention (Madrid) (2020). 107 x 137 cm.
Local Colour is a Foreign Invention (The Netherlands/ Belgium) (2020). 126,5 x 149 cm.
Images: Roberto Ruiz.


cristinagarridowork@gmail.com