gabrielroca

Black Sand

Like Hawaii, the Canary Islands have black sand beaches because the main materials found on the island are mostly of basaltic volcanic origin.

The black sand landscapes are a part of what the Surrealists referred to as the “magical condition of the islands”. The volcanic ash, the black sand of the beaches that entered into contemporary art through the paintings of Óscar Domínguez and the poems of André Bretón, who baptized Tenerife as the first surrealist island, is the new material that Gabriel Roca has incorporated into his work. And every material has its boundaries, the ineffable textures and densities imposed by the pine needle, the mute wailing of the plant giving way to the mineral silence of the black sand. Our artist finds new challenges and consolidates his artistic vision in different settings; as Apollinaire said, more than the reality of a vision, he seeks to show us the reality of an idea.

Carlos Díaz-Bertrana

Director of Contemporary Art Hall of Canary Islands