jorge mañes rubio’s bejeweled new prophets tells apocalyptic tale

the radiant series interprets byzantine art in sequins

Jorge Mañes Rubio presents New Prophets at the PAD Paris fair — a radiant exploration of cross-cultural themes, creating micro-universes that consider the possibility of finding joy and purpose in times of upheaval. The pieces, bridging the traditional mediums of canvas painting, textile, and sculpture, are each made from thousands of glass beads, sequins, and rhinestones to suggest alternatives to established systems of representation, power, and exploitation.

Across the compositions, a loud deployment of prophetic figures, colours, and textures are seen, deriving from the artist’s fascination with Mozarabic art, a Spanish medieval style that represents a distinctive crossover of Romanesque, Islamic and Byzantine origins, among others. Together, they narrate spiritual and apocalyptic tales triggering new forms of magical thinking.

all images courtesy of Rademakers Gallery and Jorge Mañes Rubio

jorge mañes rubio bridges painting, textile art, and sculpture

New Prophets emerges from Jorge Mañes Rubio’s current exploration of new techniques and materials, working for the first time with gold leaf, needle and thread, sequins, and beads on canvas. The work ‘I know that you are by my side’ challenges the standard iconographic representations of women within the centuries-long context of European art history. While mostly being portrayed in submissive roles and associated with either purity and innocence or plainly evil temptation, here explosive colours and richly decorated figures set the tone for a much different story. Understanding the power of imagined spaces, the premise of this work is that of relevance and celebration.

With ‘Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream’, the Spanish artist draws inspiration from the story of the Babylonian king and his dream where a big statue is knocked down by a meteorite, interpreted by the prophet Daniel as the rise and fall of empires. 2500 years later, this dream can be reinterpreted as an image of the ongoing environmental destruction and climate injustice. Directly pointing to the extraction of rare Earth metals — now including asteroids and near-Earth objects — the work depicts king Nebuchadnezzar surrounded by a satellite, a burning meteor entering our atmosphere and two giant cacti from the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest lithium reserve.

‘La palma me llevó el alma’ brings together two intercultural symbols, human-made and natural: a horseshoe arch and a date palm tree. The first is emblematic of the western Islamic world, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula where it was widely used by diverse communities as an architectural feature. The second is regarded as symbol of abundance and prosperity among different faiths and peoples in north Africa and all across the Mediterranean.

‘I know that you are by my side’

the fully beaded canvas frame

the main character reading a book and drinking a glass of wine

crafted from sequins, glass beads and gold leaf on canvas; wood, clay, plaster, gesso, acrylic and glass rhinestones

‘Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream’

Nebuchadnezzar’s statue made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze

a meteorite that knocks down Nebuchadnezzar’s statue

Jorge Mañes Rubio adorns the plaster frame with radiant glass rhinestones

‘La palma me llevó el alma’

bringing together two intercultural symbols, human-made and natural: a horseshoe arch and a date palm tree

motifs emblematic of the western Islamic world, and symbols from north Africa and across the Mediterranean

dates hanging from the palm tree

project info:

name: New Prophets
artist: Jorge Mañes Rubio

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom