Rafa Silvares Double Two, 2026
Made in collaboration with Jac Leirner
Oil on linen, found adhesive tapes
Oil on linen, found adhesive tapes
80 x 60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in)
Double Two is a collaborative work produced on occasion of Jac Leirner and Rafa Silvares two-person exhibition at 47m Contemporary in Leipzig in Spring 2026.
In a horizontal line across the near center of the painting, Jac Leirner has placed adhesive tapes, which in their exhibition were part of her site-specific installation Hip Hop (1998/2025). Comprised of a horizontal line made from hundreds of pieces of adhesive tape, in different widths, colors and thickness, all iterations of Hip Hop vary, and are hence unique. The installation, while paying homage to Piet Mondrian’s penultimate painting Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942–43), takes its name from the unruly beats that jumped from New York’s Bronx onto the world stage. By combining chromatic confrontation and square elongation, Leirner translates the phonetic of the name “hip hop” into space.
With its seamless grading of strong shades, Rafa Silvares's Double Two is strikingly vibrant. Executed in oil on linen, the painting approaches pure abstraction. In the foreground, four diagonally placed knives cut across vertical bands of color that form the composition's backdrop.
In Silvares's work, time appears arrested and space collapsed onto itself. Amidst the seductiveness of their smooth surface and the visual pleasure of expanses of brilliant color, we have an intuitive understanding of the allegorical nature of his paintings.
In a horizontal line across the near center of the painting, Jac Leirner has placed adhesive tapes, which in their exhibition were part of her site-specific installation Hip Hop (1998/2025). Comprised of a horizontal line made from hundreds of pieces of adhesive tape, in different widths, colors and thickness, all iterations of Hip Hop vary, and are hence unique. The installation, while paying homage to Piet Mondrian’s penultimate painting Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942–43), takes its name from the unruly beats that jumped from New York’s Bronx onto the world stage. By combining chromatic confrontation and square elongation, Leirner translates the phonetic of the name “hip hop” into space.
With its seamless grading of strong shades, Rafa Silvares's Double Two is strikingly vibrant. Executed in oil on linen, the painting approaches pure abstraction. In the foreground, four diagonally placed knives cut across vertical bands of color that form the composition's backdrop.
In Silvares's work, time appears arrested and space collapsed onto itself. Amidst the seductiveness of their smooth surface and the visual pleasure of expanses of brilliant color, we have an intuitive understanding of the allegorical nature of his paintings.