The 18 new sculptures showcased in Alchemy in Motion are a refined and compelling extension of his well-known practice of folding metal to create wall works that evince painting and sculpture in equal measure. Working in aluminum, copper, brass, and for the first time bronze, David Rodríguez Caballero allows these metals to reveal their essential luster and malleability; each of these metals manifests a unique interplay of light through subtle creases and expansive surfaces. In simplifying his structures, the artist emphasizes a kind of transmutation as heaviness appears weightless and matter is made up of light both internal and reflected. One of the principal works on display is 22.diciembre.2018, a nearly 10-foot composition of converging strips of brass and steel accomplished without a visible structural support. Originating from a two-toned drawing in ink, this “drawing in air”—as Susan Aberth writes in the artist’s catalogue essay—“fluctuates between absence and presence as the metal parts simultaneously coalesce into form and dissolve into nothingness.” Alchemy in Motion will be the artist’s fourth exhibition with Marlborough Gallery in New York.

Rodríguez Caballero’s work is represented by numerous museums and reputable private collections throughout the United States, Europe, Central and South America. Born in Pamplona, Spain, in 1970, Rodríguez Caballero currently lives and works in Madrid and New York. The artist most recently exhibited his diverse body of work in the Museo Esteban Vicente in Segovia, Spain. The exhibition, entitled El pliegue según el pliegue, was curated by Manuel Fontán del Junco, Director of the Fundación Juan March and showcased works ranging from preparatory drawings to sculpture in monumental scale. These works were displayed throughout the museum, as well as the Cathedral of Segovia, where they accompanied the lauded polychrome wood rendering of Christ (Cristo Yacente) by the Spanish Baroque master Gregorio Fernandez (1576 – 1636). In 2015, Rodríguez-Caballero’s native city of Pamplona held an acclaimed solo exhibition for the artist at its renowned 16th Century Citadelle, where numerous works were on view throughout the gardens and rooms of the pentagonal fortress. An illustrated catalog will be available at the time of the exhibition. (Marlborough Gallery press-release)