Art and dance come together at Karl Ullger’s book launch

Art and dance came together at Karl Ullger’s book launch last week. Gibraltarian artist discussed his first book, Echoes of Legacy, with journalist and writer Alice Mascarenhas and former teacher and work colleague Martin Gonzalez at a packed City Hall Parlour, as a prelude of the Gibunco Gibraltar Literary Festival. 

The book pays homage to those artists who have influenced Mr Ullger, while exploring his interpretations of some of the most celebrated masterpieces in art history. It revisits familiar works through his own artistic language and personal relationship with each painting. 

The launch included an opportunity to view Mr Ullger’s artworks as the discussion explored the original masterpieces and the thinking behind his reinterpretations. 

One of the main works discussed during the evening was Ophelia. The original painting by John Everett Millais, completed in 1852, depicts Ophelia singing as she floats in a river shortly before drowning. The scene is described in Act 4, Scene 7 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in a speech by Queen Gertrude. 

Mr Ullger’s reinterpretation was accompanied by a screening of The Movement Collective’s contemporary dance interpretation of the painting, choreographed by Zoe Bishop. 

Ms Mascarenhas, Mr Gonzalez and Mr Ullger subsequently discussed the colour palette chosen for his version. 

“Green is hope, and reds naturally draw at the bottom. Red is love, sex, death and blood and it is one of my favourite colours. She is coming from green to red,” he said. 

DISTINCTIVE STYLE 

Mr Gonzalez said Mr Ullger’s work reflected the influence of artists including Degas, Dalí, Sorolla, Zurbarán and Fortuny, while retaining a distinctive style of his own. 

Mr Ullger also highlighted Diego de Velázquez among the artists who had shaped his artistic journey, reflecting on the “domino effect” that painting can have on artists across successive generations. 

Other reinterpretations discussed during the presentation included The Japanese Garden, based on Mariano Fortuny’s 1874 work, El Balcón, which draws on works by Ricardo López Cabrera and Manuel Wesel, and Los Nazarenos, inspired by Joaquín Sorolla’s 1914 painting. 

The discussion also featured Mr Ullger’s reinterpretation of John Singer Sargent’s Fumée d'Ambre Gris (1880), which he titled Smoke by Khanom. 

Another work, The Quiet Inferno, draws on the concept of intimate, silent and restrained anguish associated with Edvard Munch’s paintings, while also reflecting the influence of Francis Bacon. 

Mr Ullger worked with dancers from The Movement Collective on the piece, using movement to express the emotion explored in the painting.  

These dancers brought the presentation to a close with a performance developed in collaboration with the artist. 

During the event, Mr Ullger announced that The Quiet Inferno had been acquired for GibSams, with the £1,000 proceeds going to the charity.