Portrait of a young man returning a ladybird to the grass, 2003

Dani Marti’s dramatic suite of monochromatic wall works command the exhibition space like a minimalist  shrine. On closer inspection however, these elegant constructions appear more like gigantic fabric swatches. Each artwork is composed of thick industrial ropes, which have been hand-woven into rhythmic abstract patterns and stretched over protruding wooden frames, their tactile surfaces both painterly and sculptural. The viewer becomes immersed in the rich sensuality of their textures as the intellect engages with their cool formal abstraction.

This Spanish-Australian artist has developed a near obsessional fixation with the woven rope, combining his life-long enthusiasm for the traditional practice of weaving with a strong commitment to modernist design. The works create a subtle interplay between object and surface, inviting the spectator to delight in their rough hewn tactility as well as the rhythmic order of their construction, with each work operating according to a particular coded pattern.

In the process, the artist creates artworks which are as seductive to the eye as they are conceptually challenging. Operating on multiple levels and employing a wide visual vocabulary,  the artist  often weaves specific patterns into his nylon rope sculptures to create non-representational portraits. His most recent woven constructions were inspired by viewing masterpieces at the ‘L’Academia’ in Venice and becoming fascinated by the rich drapes and textured fabrics that were painted to embellish the portraits of catholic saints.  These delicate meditative pieces evoke the essence of prayer through abstract means, much like an islamic aesthetic.

Often his works are loose evocations capturing singular moments in time.   His green and red weaving ‘portrait of a young man returning a lady bird to the grass’ recalls a tender moment during a meditation retreat frozen in the artist’s memory.   In such works, Marti abandons his monochromatic palette, opting instead for textural ropes in a dazzling array of pigments. Not all his works strike a  serious  tone.  The exuberant ‘Divine (100% polyester)’, is an all pink polyester piece, embellished with a sparkle of gold, an unashamed celebration of high camp frivolity.   ‘Codpiece’ (after Felipe II)’ was playfully inspired by Velazquez’s portrait of the Spanish monarch, in which Marti devotes his entire libidinous attention to the wad of metallic mesh protruding from the subject’s tight fitting hose.

Marti regularly freights in reams of custom made rope which he imports from Spain, his passion for his materials and medium verging on the fetishistic. This also extends to the hint of sexuality underlying his works, his tied and knotted ropes titillating the viewer like simulated acts of bondage.

Above all, Marti’s skilful manipulation of these manufactured fibres, blending traditional craft practices with minimalist art, have resulted in visually sophisticated and inherently beautiful constructions that operate as both sensuous textiles, with a sly erotic edge, as well as meditative abstract sculptural reliefs.

Review:

• Robert Nelson, ‘Floating into space’, The Age – Melbourne, 7 May 2003