Catálogo de la exposición - Fundación César Manrique

After Duchamp, the only possible approach to vanitas was the approach taken by Barcala.
End and on
All the boxes are covert metaphors, and nearly inaccessible. Where a language is in itself a
withdrawal from beings and things, ready made goods propose a short-cut: as symbols of
themselves, they preclude any possible re-presentation. And yet, when Barcala resorted to
the triangle (nearly always), he may have been thinking of the theological or lay trinity. And
when he included the number 1, he certainly was symbolising unity. Quest or impossible
goal? His deconstruction and reconstruction are ambiguous: at times achieving unity is an
impossible task while at others it appears to be within the artist’s reach.
Two of his latter paintings are particularly poignant. Batalla del Río de la Plata (The battle of
River Plate) is the name given to the confrontation between the Graf Spee, a German
battleship, and English destroyers that eventually sunk it off the Uruguayan River Plate coast.
Barcala wrote in the name of the Nazi battleship on the painting and added, as if in graffiti
“remains of the Graf Spek [sic]”. The battleship had lost both the battle and the war and all
that survived were the remains. Barcala was losing his battle for life. Below, another scrap
of paper contains the word “Tacoma”, the name of a former German cargo ship that was
used in Uruguay to hold prisoners. Barcala as prisoner of River Plate? To one side, another
note under Barcala’s signature reads “Dracula” and there are black spots and dark red
droplets in between the two. The disease (or medical procedures?), like Dracula, was
sucking his blood? The juxtaposition of Dracula and the Graf Spree might also be
interpreted as a streak of black humour. In the upper part of the painting, there are codes
that refer to landscapes: a thin rod to represent the horizon, a solar circle and another
word “Atardecer” (Dusk), the last three letters of which run into the centre of the circle,
over an orange and red background. Orange dusk? Dusk devoured by orange and red fire?
On the piece of cardboard underneath, the artist drew a semi-anthropomorphic, semi-
Goyescan figure, a neck with a bow tie - to say good-bye?
Uruguay natural en Punta del Este (Uruguay au naturel at Punta del Este), more than the title
of a painting would seem to be a reference to the place where he was destined to end his
days. As if leaving us this work as a will, he would appear to want to say that while as an
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