Proyecto Fachada Delta (#1) 1954

Xul Solar made this watercolor and ink Delta Facade Project at some point in his life, and it is like looking at a dream of a building. The palette is bright and playful, with reds, yellows, blues and greens all jostling for space, a real festival of color that suggests artmaking to me is a joyful process. The texture in the piece is created by the thin washes of color, one over the other, with a visible handmade quality to the markmaking. I love how the architecture seems to float just above the water, like a mirage, with each building on stilts, connected by ladders. Focusing on one small area, for example, the yellow spire with a haloed figure brings to mind medieval icons, re-imagined with a childlike touch. It reminds me a little of Paul Klee's architectural fantasies, but with a Latin American twist, a true original. In the end, this is a vision of artmaking that embraces multiplicity.