SOBRE LO SUBLIME

Sobre lo Sublime brings together works by three of the most significant figures on the international art scene. Their differences are transcended by the convergence of a common denominator: the pursuit of the Sublime. From the spirituality that permeates the work of Michael Biberstein, to the subtlety and infinite richness of Alan Charlton’s paintings, and the innovative interpretation of the landscape — at once fierce and dying — developed by Glen Rubsamen.

Alan Charlton (1948, Sheffield, England) studied at the Sheffield School of Art. In 1969, he moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Art. He currently lives and works in the British capital. Alan Charlton’s work, both his monochrome grey paintings and his multipart compositions, is imbued with silence and with a vision of a universe in balance, marked by the beauty of the unreal quality of geometric form.

Michael Biberstein (1948, Solothurn, Switzerland) lived and studied in his native country until 1964, when he moved to the United States, where he pursued studies in artistic sciences and subsequently developed his artistic practice in a self-taught manner. Biberstein has lived and worked in Portugal since 1978. His landscapes are landscape paintings in the Romantic sense of the word. Biberstein appeals to the traditional aim of this genre: to express the sublimity of nature and the emotional relationship between human beings and the natural environment. This aim simultaneously constitutes the centre of gravity of his aesthetic interests.

Glen Rubsamen (1959, New York, USA) lives and works between New York and Los Angeles. In 1981, he completed his studies at U.C.L.A., and in 1992 he received a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. Rubsamen creates images that play with the idea of photographic simulation, using silhouettes, outlines, and a constant leitmotif, as though they were photographic negatives yet to be developed. His work is characterised by an interest in bringing together situations of great intensity in keeping with the Romantic tradition, such as sunsets, sunrises, or lush vegetation.