Marisol

Published with Centro Botín.

This volume is the first retrospective devoted entirely to the medium of drawing in the oeuvre of the beloved Venezuelan American artist Marisol. Though Marisol is best known for her playful, assemblage-style totemic sculptures, drawing was her entryway into the arts, and it is a practice she maintained until her death in 2016. When Things Are Just Beginning brings into focus a selection of these lesser-known works on paper from Marisol. Through more than 100 pieces created over the course of six decades, along with sculptures, archival materials and stills from Andy Warhol films starring the artist, the publication reveals drawing as the continuous thread of a practice in constant transformation. In these works, Marisol intertwines personal concerns, social reflections and imaginative fictions, making drawing a space for exploration and retreat. The title, taken from a phrase by Leo Castelli, evokes both the moment of her early international projection and the decisive retreats that marked her career, after which her work always reappears renewed.
Marisol (1930–2016) was born Maria Sol Escobar in Paris to a Venezuelan family. She drew continually and from a young age adopted the name Marisol. Like many of the artists who emerged in the early 1950s, Marisol was at first influenced by Abstract Expressionism, but after seeing pre-Columbian art in Mexico and New York, she began making sculpture in 1954, and soon began focusing on the totemic figures for which she is best known.