Marina metafísica [Metaphysical Marina]

Julio Alpuy trained in the seminal Taller Torres-García, a workshop founded in Montevideo by Joaquín Torres-García to transmit to a younger generation his style of Universal Constructivism, an approach to abstraction inspired by a fusion of ancient American forms with the European avant-garde. In 1961, after almost two decades of working faithfully in Torres-García’s style, Alpuy moved to New York where he was able to develop his own distinctive style, as seen in this work of 1962. While the title suggests a marine landscape, what we see is the artist’sresponse to a new urban cityscape, in a composition incorporating the timeless symbols that would be a lifelong concern for him. By using found and recycled materials—wood in this case—Alpuy also explored what he saw as the spirituality of used objects.