Arte Chirale: discovering the stunning new work by Gonzalo Borondo

The young Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo is undoubtedly the emerging phenomenon of contemporary street art, who never stops surprising audiences and critics with a visionary and multifaceted production.

We had already had the opportunity to produce the technological part of some of his complex works, such as Ubiquitas — where the lighting structure of the glass plates contributed to creating the sense of movement of the female figure depicted there — so we knew what Borondo is capable of when he decides to use light as a creative material.

However, when we received the specifications for the new installation under way in the city of Bordeaux, we could not imagine the final effect the completed work would have.

We knew that the city of Bordeaux, as part of the “Liberté! 2019” initiative, had entrusted his genius with the entire transformation of the protestant temple of Chartrons, built in 1832 and abandoned for over 30 years — considered by many urban planners as one of the symbols of the architectural resistance of the French city.

The kilometres of LED strips and the three complex microcontroller-based control systems that we enthusiastically built — based only on pencil sketches made by phone with his assistants — already hinted at something imposing, as did the first highly secret images leaked from the work site, which was proceeding at forced pace in the three months of gestation allowed by the project’s timeline.

For the opening, set for 21 June — the day of the summer solstice — we therefore decided to close our Spazio Chirale and grant ourselves a holiday with our entire staff in the French city, also attracted by the oyster farms and the numerous Châteaux producing fine wines, for a well-deserved rest after working absurd hours ourselves to meet the deadlines imposed by the calendar.

Works of this kind require important investments, and despite the fact that the City of Bordeaux had allocated a budget for the realisation of the project, we nevertheless decided to step in also as a sponsor, co-funding part of the costs for the technological component.

In this way we earned the role of main partner, complete with a “Chirale” logo printed on the numerous posters covering the city in the days before the opening event.

For the occasion — to stay on theme with figurative art and drawing through light — we brought with us a decent kit of analog photography equipment, including a 1958 Rolleiflex twin-lens, a Nikon F from the early 1960s, a 1936 Leica Standard and an almost contemporary Nikon F5, plus of course a fair number of film rolls — strictly experimental ones.

For the photos meant to constitute the trip’s reportage, we used Kodak Double X, the famous cinematographic film used in Hollywood for black-and-white shooting in films such as Memento, Kill Bill, Manhattan and Schindler’s List.

Together with the photographic equipment, we also brought part of the laboratory equipment that would inevitably have been needed for last-minute modifications.

Once we arrived at Chartrons and entered the Temple, we were literally speechless. The first sensation was one of disbelief. Every corner and element of the temple had been the object of the artist’s intervention.

Doors, atriums, spaces, walls, vault, floor, stairs are reinterpreted and reinvented — sometimes with painting, sometimes with installations.

The Work, titled MERCI, is a temporary exhibition, which will be destroyed at the end of August. As commented by Art Vibes, “the theme seems to be the inexorable transformation of nature over time — a nature to be contemplated, a suspended time that becomes cyclical, sensual, imperceptible, multiple”.

Borondo’s artistic discourse is complex and original — nothing to do with the classic and well-known themes of Urban Art.

An absolutely must-see exhibition; you have time until the end of August 2019.

We prefer not to anticipate anything for you; just know that the video and photographic material already available online does not do justice to the monumentality of the project, conducted by a team of exceptional artists which, in addition to the brilliant Spaniard, includes established authors such as Fabrizio Cicero, who took care of the light interaction itself.