(Published in Tidningen Kulturen, September 14th 2016)

The abstract layers of Melker Garay’s imagery express all those words not visible in his texts. Presented as a hidden layer, they create a symbiosis which in itself is silent, and add yet another dimension to his novels and short stories. This forms a foundation of the strong, conceptual line running through all of Garay’s writings. Garay paid extra attention to this aspect at the opening day of his exhibition titled “Monochrome”, by having the actor Kristofer Nilsson Ahlberg read an excerpt from his acclaimed novel MVC. (Norlén&Slottner 2014)

The Gallery Kameleont in Norrköping (Sweden) is packed with visitors at the vernissage. Large, abstract paintings stretch across the walls of the gallery’s three rooms.

Gallery Kameleont is a first-class location with beautiful premises, with mid-September sun warming up the room through large windows. It is possible however, that it is neither the late-summer heat nor the crowd inside the gallery that generate this heightened temperature, but the energetic vibe that radiates from Garay’s paintings. Same energy originates in the artist himself, as all factors come together and mirror each other, resulting in an exhibition that is definitely worth seeing.

Garay’s paintings are captivating. There are thick layers of colours, soft and bubbly patterns and numb faces in relief. We see a pitch-black umbrella that seems to want to push itself out of the flat surface of the canvas.

The most recurring colours are blue and red. They speak of the calm, cool intellect and of warm, surging emotions, which are the powers representing an important chapter of Garay’s artistic practice as a whole.

The plasticity of the paint, in combination with the characteristic glossy surface of the acrylic medium, generate a need, almost a craving, in the observer. They fill us with a desire to touch, taste, to own, and it is not surprising that many of the works are accompanied by red dots already on the first day of the exhibition.

That Melker Garay holds a vast knowledge in cultural and intellectual matters is not only noticable in his literature, it is also revealed in the paintings as they hold a weight that rarely emerges just by itself. There is a strong willpower in the images, monochromes…could it not also be a matter of metamorphoses? A struggle for something to take shape, become visible and manifest itself in the material reality. There is something vibrating, sizzling in the works, like a volcano about to wake up from its resting-phase, and I begin to see them as little eruptions, manifesting themselves as forces of nature.

In the piece “La Décoration Suspect” (2014), the merging of structure and form is created with strong sense and understanding of the nature of the material.

Knowledge and curiosity

In another work, “The Dragon”, the paint moves over the canvas like a snake, or as an inner organ from a life-form we have yet to discover. A different kind of being, strong and expressive.

The works of Melker Garay follow no clear-cut tradition, but there is no doubt that the purity of the clear colours seek some kind of silence, close at hand to draw parallels to zen-inspired artists, as for example the Swedish painter and sculptor Rune Hagberg.

As in Garay’s writings, one can sense an intellectual weight, a vast knowledge that shines through. A respect for others ideas and styles, and incorporating thoughts and questions.

There are also pedestals positioned around the exhibition rooms, where some of Garay’s novels sit. However, they are not there to be read, but to show the spectator just how much are his written works part of his entire artistic practice.

The positioning of the works effectively brings forward the aspect of the empty space in the paintings, which is a very important element since it brings out the elemental force that the images in themselves seek to express. This becomes a vibrating confrontation, as the paintings complete the silence with their own, highly present, quietude.

The colours are shouting, compelling us to react, calling on us to interact, to listen, to open up. The paintings show a desire to crystallise, locate the absolute smallest components, and from there be able to articulate their distinct message.

Melker Garay cannot stay silent. Wherein lies his utter most strength. Let us hope he develops and intensifies this very own language of his, so that we can enjoy more of his remarkably thunderous silence.

Ida Thunström