Lluís Soler enters the world of Rothko with ‘Red’

The vision of the art world according to Mark Rothko (Daugavpils, Latvia, 1903-New York, 1970), a reference of North American abstract expressionist painting, expands the palette of the Teatre Akadèmia with ‘Red’, an interesting work by John Logan (San Diego, 1961), better known as a screenwriter. The piece -translated by Jaume Coll Mariné- connects with the intimacy of the artist, with his philosophy and artistic commitment. The author captures the debate between the master and the new generations of pop-art by confronting Rothko with his disciple. The duel opens in Barcelona with the veteran Lluís Soler and the young Ferran Vilajosana. “He is an attractive character with whom I share a very orthodox upbringing, the Jew, I Christian, one of those who mark,” says Soler who has grown a mustache. What he most admires about Rothko is “the strength and struggle to work as a painter.” He was methodical and obsessive. “If the paintings were not hung in a place as he wanted, he would not do the exhibition.”

Tribute to Elsa Peretti

“Elsa Peretti, patron of the theater, was delighted with this work that talks about art and the creative process. Too bad she cannot see it”, says the director of the assembly, the Italian Guido Torlonia who this year dedicates the entire season of Akadèmia to the jewelry designer who passed away in March. “The work talks about creativity and art. And about characters that were in her orbit when she worked in New York.” Peretti, who started out as a model, was a close associate of fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, better known as Halston, on whom Netflix has made a series starring Ewan McGregor.

Logan, whose films include “Any given Sunday” and “Gladiator,” became interested in Rothko after seeing his works at London’s Tate Modern. He immersed himself in the life of the artist and focused on him for a certain period: when he decided to hire a young assistant in the late 1950s to help him paint huge paintings for a fancy restaurant, designed by architect Philip Johnson and located in a new skyscraper created by Mies van der Rohe, on Madisson Avenue. The ‘Four Seasons’ of the Seagram’s Building was destined to become the most ‘in’ place in Manhattan. “For Rothko it was like painting the Sistine Chapel of his time, a space designed by the two most important architects of his time,” recalls Torlonia. But the result was not what the painter expected.

His canvases were based on the superposition of colors. He started out using very light colors and ended up with very dark tones. “His biggest fear is that black would eat red, a color that Rothko represented life. But that ended up happening to him.”

Modern Sistine Chapel

At that time Rothko was also a famous painter. They paid him $ 35,000 for the murals, the current equivalent would be several million. “The problem is that while Rothko imagines the building as a chapel of modernity, a space for meditation, the room where his paintings are to go is flooded with light and has no space to meditate”, explains the director.

Related news

The work, through five different scenes, shows the evolution of the project. For two years he and his assistant will confront their vision of art and life in an old gym with the same dimensions of the restaurant that Rothko rented and converted into a workshop. “There are many moments of tension but also of reunion between teacher and disciple,” says Vilajosana. That is the aspect that the Teatre Akadèmia currently has where several blank canvases. “Although we seem to paint, we don’t do much beyond mixing paints,” explain the interpreters.

“Rothko was one of the greats but at that time he was very isolated, pop-art was appearing with force, completely different from what he did. He was left alone, locked in his world. Few friends he had to trust and ask for. opinion “, explains the director. “For him, everything that people like Litchenstein and Warhol did was garbage. His vision was more mystical. For Rothko, art has to go to the soul of the person.”