Catalog: Printmaking Works, Galería De la Mota, 1980 (Madrid, Spain)
[Original exhibition title in Spanish: Obra de tórculo]
Catalog essay written by José de Castro Arines [original text in Spanish]
A new name, whose creativeness has caught my attention, Yolanda del Riego, painter and printmaker, of Spanish blood, with American passport, who comes and goes from Madrid to Alaska and Alaska to Madrid like someone who effortlessly sings with pleasure, from here to there meeting the demands of her life, from there to here meeting the demands of her sentiment for art. This is the woman and her interpretive credentials. Frail of body and strong —extremely strong— the be-all and end-all of spirit, now with us with her graphic art in tow, which are her most substantial works in size, but not the most disproportionate in volume.
A work of diverse formal lines, as diverse as its lines of thought. It cannot be explained in the usual manner by which the work of our printmakers is presented to us. There you have it, brilliant, burning with fire, impetuous, in which all manners of printmaking seek their stance. Idiosyncratically, whether each in its own terroir, or mixed together in a rather content fraternity; from the etching to the monoprint, with its surprising add-ons, unexpected playful architectures in which “collage” acts in all its splendor. There is no law and order but rather impromptus. You understand: as if the figure, the body and spirit of these graphic creations of Yolanda del Riego were to appear ad lib. This is explained, lifted without further ado to our eyes, born without prior thought, but rather through enlightenment, which is like saying through an outburst of the soul, in which case no reasons are required.
With regard to form and its corresponding dynamism, not a single misstep. The works here shown, although weighty, do not feel subservient to custom; although unbridled, at no time do they lose their composure. And always, very personal in her form and thought.
Style? And for what? More than styles, fires, lights, vigor. Not a single technique, but rather many; not a single sentimental demand, but rather craving. It is all heart that enlivens the creations of this Spanish printmaker. I know not if they are anecdotal or if composed with specific figurative tensions. Who cares? What matters to me is the vigor of her discourse. What counts is their warmth of life. “The unending lightning”. And everything, as you see here, so gracefully arranged, so agile, so vividly governed. And what’s more, stated on a foundation of greater strength. An art in full light, full of light. There it is.