Referencias : Remedios Varo, the woman behind the mask
Although Remedios Varo (Anglès, Girona 1908) may not have been as popularly known as other surrealist painters from our country, her work, her journey, her symbolism, and especially the mysticism that surrounds her characters are very close to our universe.
El encuentro, 1962.
Duality, humans and animals. Animals looking like humans and most of them wearing masks. Mystery, and alchemy. The unknown.
Los amantes, 1963.
Even though Remedios was born in Spain her life passed through several cities due to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). She initially studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, and her frequent visits with her father to the Museo del Prado, along with her fascination for Goya and El Greco, would later have a clear influence on her work.
After fleeing the Spanish Civil War, he settled in Mexico in 1941, where he joined a vibrant circle of artists and intellectuals including Leonora Carrington, Kati and José Horna, Diego Rivera among others. This paradigm shift marked a before and after in Remedios' work.
The mask and the disguise were objects of concealment that fascinated Remedios; their playful appearance and the escape from the real world that she found in them made her create them for parties and theatrical performances, which she and Leonora Carrington were very fond of. In Mexico, she made seven mask projects, later creating them for the play "Life is a Dream" by Calderón de la Barca, staged by Álvarez Custio. She also participated in a mask exhibition with one made of feathers.
Throughout her career, she immersed herself in hermeticism, alchemy, and mysticism, creating works rich in symbolism that represent the journey of self-discovery and the quest for enlightenment. Her style evolved, incorporating spiritual elements and archetypes that reflect personal transformation.
La discreción, 1958.
Ruptura, 1955.
Con la misma violencia invisible del viento al dispersar las nubes pero con mayor delicadeza, como si pintase con la mirada y no con las manos, Remedios despeja la tela y sobre su superficie transparente acumula claridades.
— Octavio Paz
Her last work, 'Naturaleza muerta resucitando' represents for us the enigma of her death. What did she die from? Why did she pass away at fifty-five? Had she grown tired of living, or did her various spiritual transformations in search of perfection represent an excessive expenditure of energy? We will never know. After sighing with sadness, thinking and wondering why this painting does not have a character, why Remedios is not painted in it, we have come to the conclusion, not without surprise, that she is present; she is the lit candle and she is watching us. This candle is the symbol of her particular life; in its transformation, it produces a field of energies that makes eight plates move (the eight symbolizes regeneration and the eternal movement of the ascending spiral). Thirteen fruits revolve around the candle like a solar system (the thirteen signifies death and rebirth). The pomegranates, symbols of fertility, open and release their seeds, which germinate; in the eternal present, everything happens at the same time. Octavio Paz says: 'She did not paint time, but the moments in which time rests.'
And from the top of the painting, the mosquitoes watch us, laughing at our dreams. It is life and death, it is smile and transcendence, it is and it is not...
— Beatriz Varo
Naturaleza muerta resucitando, 1963.
In other words, her legacy is a testament to the spiritual quest that we all carry within, inviting us to explore the deeper dimensions of life.