The title of this exhibition refers to the 1926 book of the same name by the renowned painter Wassily Kandinsky. In it, the abstract artist presents a treatise on the fundamental elements of visual language, revealing symbolic and rhythmic concerns within his compositions. The book became a classical reference in discussions of abstract art, and now serves as an entry point to the work of five artists from our gallery, each of whom builds abstract and conceptual planes through the language of points and lines.

We are pleased to present for the first time at La Galería Rebelde the work of American painter James Benjamin Franklin (Washington, 1972). Seeking distance from the traditional canvas support, Franklin creates paintings that operate in the realm of objecthood, incorporating time, texture, and unrestricted materiality.

Starting from an organic, tactile base of his own invention, the artist constructs deep surfaces made of second-hand fabrics, carpet, towels, as well as pools and strokes of paint, sand, and glitter. The essence of his work arises from its construction process, guided by the will of the materials. Chance plays a key role in how gestures emerge, shaping an abstract language that verges on sculpture.

For Kandinsky, “the point is the primary element of painting and especially of graphic art (...) it settles on the surface and asserts itself indefinitely. In this way, it represents the most permanent and concise internal affirmation, which arises with brevity, firmness, and speed.” This poetic description offers a useful lens through which to view the work of Luciano Goizueta (San José, 1982). His image presents a cityscape of Curridabat, Costa Rica, created through colored dots that gradually blur as the painting expands horizontally. This technique allows the artist to reflect on the passage of time in the landscape, while also abstracting light and shadow in motion—affirming, as Kandinsky said, the color of each point with brevity, firmness, and speed.

In the same text, the Russian artist refers to the line as an “invisible being,” “the trace left by the point as it moves, and therefore its product.” This notion is echoed in the works of JJ Estrada T. (Guatemala, 1982). At first glance, they appear to be torn and reassembled baseball cards, but upon closer inspection they reveal new straight lines that emerge from a common point on the plane. These pieces are part of the series In Between the Stitches, in which the artist revisits a childhood passion: baseball. In his youth, the sport seemed destined to take him to the major leagues—until an injury ended that dream. This series is a deeply personal journey, a deconstruction of the game that once defined him. It is a space where probability and possibility collide, a delicate balance between control and chaos, a search for justice within defined limits.

In a more intimate register, Francisco Ugarte (Guadalajara, 1973), in his series Mental Landscapes, reveals the secrets held within his sketchbooks—offering a glimpse into the origin of his ideas. His paintings represent graphic notes that abstract the organizational methods behind his creative and mental processes. These rituals of abstraction unfold in distinct stages: they begin as writing, become drawings in composition, and ultimately take the form of paintings through their materials and technique.

Finally, Norman Morales (Guatemala, 1979) completes the exhibition with his signature abstract language, creating geometric blocks intervened with color. His background in architecture informs a fascination with constructing spaces of meaning within the plane—that surface which, for Kandinsky, possesses an “inner direction, tension, and latent movement.”

In sum, this exhibition brings together diverse approaches that redefine the concept of abstraction, showing how the interplay of materials, geometries, forms, and meanings invites the viewer into unique worlds held within each work.

—Josseline Pinto, Curator