La Balsa Arte, Medellín, is pleased to present the 20/20k Hertz exhibition by the artist Bilal Chahal and the composer Diana María Restrepo.

Of spatial cut, the joint proposal, developed for the space of the gallery, explores the possibilities of occupation of the space of La Balsa Arte, Medellín, in the form of a sensory and musical progression in the main hall. The musical composition, by Diana Restrepo, happens as a dialogue with the large format paintings and will be executed in a performative way on the day of the inauguration. The resulting video will be projected during the show.

In this way, music becomes an integral part of the work, contributing to the experience of color and space. The creation of an integral 'aesthetic' environment reinforces the idea of ​​'physical presence', developed by the vanguards that united the idea of ​​installation with sound performance, combining space, volume and auditory sensation. The conjugation of aesthetic elements constitutes a reaction to the monopoly of the visual over the other sensory experiences, involving the context as a constituent part of the work.

The work of Bilal Chahal is built on personal experience. In it the notions of displacement and exodus are central. For the artist, the color plane, carefully constructed by means of series of material layers, is the essential element that allows access to the emotional qualities of his work. Everything in the universe is composed of one element: energy. The energy of light moves with different frequencies, and these vibrant visual spectra produce particular sensations that at the same time constitute memory and experience of the world.

From this awareness a call is given to the autobiographical, to the meditation, to the interiorization and the study of one's own existence. More than a color plane, in each work Chahal considers the creation of a threshold, a limit, or an open door to the sensory, to the evocation and memory. The work, large format, speaks in the abstract of a moment or a lived episode. In this sense, color refers to a mental state, and in some cases, it poses a movement between various secondary elements that suggest a progression or depth.

On his journey from Lebanon to the Netherlands Antilles, to Amsterdam, and now to Colombia, where the artist has temporarily settled, Chahal found his references in the manifestations of abstract informalism and in the Dutch movement 'Zero'. The approach of this Dutch tendency is summarized, according to the artist Otto Piene, as "an area of ​​silence, of pure possibilities for a new beginning". The critic Germano Celant for his part pointed to the creation of a 'space field' where art acts as a testimony of vital, ideological needs, which physically and aesthetically integrate art into a concrete existence and a surrounding reality.

The experiences of the Futurists, of the Dadaists and the assemblies of Oskar Schlemmer in the Bauhaus, to the compositions of John Cage, executed with reference to certain objects in space, constitute other antecedents of the convergence of diverse sensory experiences.

Two artists propose a sample / performance / installation that promises to be memorable; with them, La Balsa Arte contributes to the arts scene in Medellín.