Opening Reception of Korber's Museum Retrospective Exhibit "A decade of line and color".
Manuel Alvarez Lezama Art Critic Review
The internationally renowned artist Michael J. Korber is a virtuoso of the line, the pure line, the free line, the metaphorical line - sometimes simple, sometimes baroque, sometimes lyrical, sometimes dramatic - line that he masterfully uses to construct suggestive / enigmatic scenarios where spirituality, sensuality and eroticism intertwine so that we become co-authors of their stories / games / transgressions.
As allegories, amazing contemporary paintings by Michael J. Korber are consciously full of elements that confuse us and sometimes confusing human relationships (body and soul), making them true “open works” (Umberto Ecco).
In A Decade of Line and Color, Michael J. Korber (born in New York, United States, but truly a citizen of the world) invites us to see what has happened in his painting and his drawing for the past l0 years of his insatiable artistic production that begins in adolescence. And what we see in A Decade of Line and Color, presented at the prestigious Museum of the Americas and hosted by Jose Alegria and Obra galleria, work is not only impressive, original and provocative but immediately we realize that this is a fully mature artist who is reaping their innate talents, exciting education (from his first teacher and encouraging strength when he lived in New York City, the Spanish Manuel Vega, to his years in Pratt Institute, to his travels and stays in Europe – specifically Eastern Europe – beautiful and conflicting – to delightful Puerto Rico and the enchanted island of Malta).
In art, without line / there is nothing. This we know from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from Leonardo da Vinci to Matisse and Picasso, from Henry Moore, Richard Serra, and Frank Gehry until we have to decipher many postmodern proposals. And in the case of Michael J. Korber not only impressive mastery of the line in specific skills but his daring / looseness in the use of color and composition – which can range from what might be described as a calculated exercise simplicity to a highly his postmodern baroque. Moreover, the strength of their movements makes each one of the works of a “charming” serious invitation to enjoy and decipher his surreal and existential depths and multiple interpretations.
A Decade of Line and Color is a retrospective not traditional but a well thought and intelligent dialogue between works of different periods of the career of a lover of women and men, their relationships – body and soul. To experience, decipher and see the works that he is exhibiting in Puerto Rico – from earlier works marked by darkness fragmented – until the emerging human figure / clearly his passions, and the effectively organic explosions orchestrated by the artist – feeling as if his figures will embrace you – alone with the strength, vulnerability, and richness – so different yet so similar to us.
Manuel Alvarez Lezama
Art Critic/Author/Art Historian
A graduate of Yale University. Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Former professor at the School of Visual Arts of Puerto Rico. Art critic and member of AICA (International Association of Art Critics).
The art review was originally published in Spanish:
Korber es un virtuoso de la línea, la línea pura, la línea libre, la línea metáfora – a veces simple, a veces barroca, a veces lírica, a veces dramática – línea que usa magistralmente para construir sugestivos/enigmáticos escenarios donde la espiritualidad, la sensualidad y el erotismo se entrelazan para que nos convirtamos en coautores de sus cuentos/juegos/transgresiones.
