Homenaje a tarzan (1970)
By Rafael Ruiz Balerdi
After visiting the Gure Artea show last Friday I went to Galería Carreras Mugica to see an exhibition entitled: Balerdi. Homage to Tarzan, chapter 1: the unwitting hunter, curated by one of the artists selected for the Gure Artea prize, Asier Mendizabal. On show are works by the Basque artist Rafael Ruiz Balerdi 1934-1992. Balerdi is an extraordinary painter (unfortunately, little known outside Spain) and here I had the privilege of seeing an experimental film completed in 1969, which is the central piece in this exhibition. The film is a 16mm copy from the collection of the Filmoteca Española. Balerdi selected parts of a Tarzan film and traced them by hand, frame by frame directly onto celluloid. The result is a kind of dynamic animated drawing in black, white and grey in a fluid state of continual mutation and transformation. Through the specific and evident materiality of the medium of film itself, there is a constant shifting between representation and abstraction. The original Tarzan soundtrack is also maintained and lends a trance like rhythm to the images. Balerdi drew compulsively and this experimental film was an extension of this activity; taking gesture and repetition…
Watch Homenaje a tarzan on Fast Ubu