anguish and resignation. Antonio Ortega

This publication was published in conjunction with the exhibition Anguish and Resignationl, which took place at the TØN Gallery, Dublin

From Març 28, 2024, to April 15, 2025.

Text: Antonio Ortega

Photographs: Guillem Ortega Santos

ANTONIO ORTEGA

Anguish and Resignation

Tøn Gallery

Dublin, 2025

Resignation und Furcht vídeo 4/3 02’05”, 2003

ANGUISH AND RESIGNATION

Antonio Ortega revisits the idea of fatality from one of his early works. This is evident in the short video with the same title, Resignation und Furcht, presented at Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach.

Sometimes, creating a video piece requires almost nothing no money, actors, set, or technical resources. Ortega takes this minimalist principle to its ultimate consequences in this video. The only elements in the work are two characters represented by two fingers and some clay balls.

Using this scarcity of means, Ortega constructs a narrative that questions the principles people adhere to, cultural differences, and the way various religions influence people’s humor and character. This parable, presented as a comedy sketch or gag, aligns with Ortega’s broader exploration of themes evident in his other works. The piece underscores how people’s ability to act is subordinated to their physical traits and social context. Resignation and anguish are not merely expressions of two temperaments; they also embody larger value systems, such as religion in this case. The two characters in the video, bound by their destiny and physical form, have no other choice but to accept their fate. Despite medical and technological progress, they remain in a chronic state of resignation. The video was shown continuously throughout the duration of the exhibition in the projection room of the museum.

The repeated viewing process dismantled the idea of a gag, much like how the obsessive repetition of the same image can add a tragic undertone to paintings that might otherwise convey a sense of triviality when viewed in isolation.

and Resignation

BEING RIVER

For this proposal, Antonio Ortega continues his tireless work painting small oil-on-canvas pieces (using frames in sizes 4F and 5F, with an ccasional 6F). These works feature pink stones set in an ambiguous landscape.

The choice of pink for the stones is deliberate, emphasizing that this is not a naturalistic depiction. Ortega begins his paintings on a magenta base a color that does not exist naturally and was chemically developed in the late 19th century. His persistent use of flat horizons is also intentional, creating images that can be interpreted either as landscapes or tabletops, depending on perspective and the texture of his brushstrokes.

In this exhibition, Ortega will present eight canvases on which he has worked systematically for the first time, using as a reference and inspiration the image of a stone. However, this is not a natural or original stone but rather a replica crafted by Giuseppe Penone in his 2000 work Essere fiume (Being River). Furthermore, the title mentions the names of two indistinguishable Holy Virgins, taken from the Spanish popular context. Antonio Ortega believes both of them represent the same sentiment.

Anguish