Although in theory his work is associated with that magical and atmospherical naturalism that characterizes a large number of his paintings and photographs, the Madrid-born artist José Manuel Ballester is fascinated by abstraction, in particular by Kazimir Malevich, to whom he recently paid tribute in an exhibition presented at the gallery Ivorypress. ‘Variaciones a partir de Malévich’ uses one of the Russian’s suprematist compositions to compose a formal exploration made of codas and fugues, the basic materials of which are the eleven geometric, non-representational elements that make up the original piece. The objective of this unique, almost musical exercise of variations – which could well have been created by Malevich himself – is to bring out into the open all the complexity that is hidden in the painting and in Malevich’s oeuvre as a whole, and along the way to invite the viewer to consider the combinatory and mimetic potential that is inherent in any work of art.