Seven words are inscribed in horizontal lines in this composition of seven yellow stripes of varying thickness contrasting against a black background. At the same time, the links between the representational ambiguity of language and the pictorial condition are explored. The work also discusses abstraction through an obvious nod to Mark Rothko. Terms derived from Greek or written in Latin (artifex, civilium, mercatura, forum, historia, emporium, ethicus) seem encrypted and indecipherable in a progressive void. But the artist’s interest does not lie in the linguistic sign but in the concepts that refer to the unequal power relations that structure Western thought and its impact on the field of art. Opacity becomes a metaphor embodied in a scene where communication appears as a modern “chat.”

A graduate of the Instituto Superior de Arte in 1983, Carlos García joined the legendary 4×4 group in the 1980s, vindicating painting in a decade during which manifestations such as installation and performance were favored.