Light, words, and the ephemeral—that shifting condition of random—are concepts present in some form in the entire oeuvre of Chema Alvargonzalez (1960-2009), an artist who divided the two decades of his career between Barcelona and Berlin. Whereas Bruce Nauman and Dan Flavin are Alvargonzalez’s direct sources in the way he configures the space through experimentation with lighting, Mallarmé serves as the basis of his linguistic approach to the practice of art.

Alvargonzalez often accords words the status of objects which—rather than locking in a meaning—enables him to achieve a semantic openness that only the great poets are capable of. In his vanitas pieces, another recurring theme, Alvargonzalez invites us to reflect on death; in his reference to Goethe’s last words (Licht, mehr Licht!) he draws our attention to the close relationship that he forges between nature and poetry.