Isabel De Obaldía: Murciélagos Master Drawings New York

January 20–March 31, 2023

Opening Reception: Friday, January 20th, 3-8pm

Mary-Anne Martin|Fine Art is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent drawings and sculptures by contemporary artist Isabel De Obaldía. Throughout her multimedia career, De Obaldía has always returned to drawing: “One thing that has been a constant throughout my life is drawing. I draw to remember. I draw to sketch out an idea. I draw to quell my anxiety. I draw for pure enjoyment.”

In 2020, De Obaldía began drawing continually to record and process the immense changes happening throughout the world. She became highly interested in bats, an animal crucial to our ecosystems yet much maligned recently, as humans have encroached on their habitats with devastating consequences. Over one thousand species of bats exist, and they have long been depicted in the art of cultures worldwide, from antiquity to the present. In De Obaldía’s home country of Panama, portrayals of bats have been found in ancient gold artifacts dating back to 850 CE. Based on this new interest, De Obaldía embarked on a series of glass sculptures of bats and incorporated them into her drawings and prints.

The show comprises colorful large scale drawings, monotypes, and casting sketches alongside her new sculptures. The gallery will also display a selection of De Obaldía’s animations and storyboard drawings, including drawings for her short narrative film “Diary 2020” which was screened this year at both the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Chelsea Film Festival in New York.

The exhibition will remain on view through February 24th, 2023.
Please contact Emmaline Deihl with any inquiries.

Works on View

A glass sculpture by Isabel De Obaldia of a red and orange colored bat
Isabel De Obaldía, Red Bat, 2022
A glass sculpture by Isabel De Obaldia of a translucent blue bat with its wings outstretched
Isabel De Obaldía, Alien, 2022
A glass sculpture by Isabel De Obaldia of a bat. It is translucent glass with a red face and red accents.
Isabel De Obaldía, Hugo, 2022
A glass sculpture by Isabel De Obaldia of a bat with its wings outstretched. The wings are textured, with red, blue, and yellow color dappled throughout
Isabel De Obaldía, Bulldog Bat, 2022
A glass sculpture by Isabel De Obaldia in brown and red tones of a bat with its wings outstretched.
Isabel De Obaldía, Griller, 2022
A casting sketch for a glass bat sculpture by Isabel De Obalida. The drawings shows a bat with outstretched wings in red and yellow alongside notes.
A drawing by Isabel de Obaldia showing casting sketches for her glass bat sculptures. Four large bats in green, yellow, and red are shown on a white background with notes.
A black and grey charcoal drawing of a bat by Isabel De Obaldia. It is a casting sketch for a glass sculpture.
A watercolor and graphite drawing by Isabel de Obaldia of a light blue bat in flight with its wings outstretched against a blue background dotted with yellow stars.
A work on paper by Isabel De Obaldia showing the silhouette of a white figure against a bright blue background. There are white and black spots surrounded it.
A watercolor by Isabel De Obaldia of a bright blue bat with white stripes against a dark background. The bat is holding its wings above its head.
A work on paper by Isabel De Obaldia showing an opaque figure against a background with abstract oranges spots and bats drawn in pencil
An etching by Isabel De Obaldia of a woman sitting at a table holding a bat sculpture. A swarm of large bats drawn in pencil hover overhead.
A dry point etching of a woman sitting at a table holding a glass sculpture shaped like a bat. A linocut of a bat is stamped in the top left corner.
A dry point etching of a woman seated at a table holding a bat sculpture. A huge bat done in watercolor in grey tones looms over her.
A dry point etching of a woman seated at a table holding a bat shaped sculpture. Lino prints in red of bats are stamped across the image.
A monotype by Isabel De Obaldia of a bat with outstretched wings. The bat is outlined in white against a dark blue background, with yellow, green, and red accents.
A monotype by Isabel De Obaldia showing a bat with its wings stretched overhead. It is done in light blue colors with accents of red and yellow.
A preliminary sketch by Isabel De Obaldia for a glass bat sculpture. The drawing is in purple and blue tones and there is a red face drawn in the middle of the bat shaped figure.
A drawing by Isabel De Obaldia in dark colors showing a swirling vortex
A drawing in grey, black, and yellow of a swirling vortex filled with bats, with a small person in the center. A large bat hangs upside down from the top.
A large scale work on paper by Isabel De Obaldia showing a an abstracted figure in red and green diving from the top of the paper. The figure is surrounded by black bats against a grey background.
A vitreograph by Isabel De Obaldía showing a bat in flight against a dark background. The bat is drawn with simple, bold lines and colored red.
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A colorful work on paper by Isabel De Obaldia showing a circular vortex in orange and purple tones with black bats flying around.
A vibrant artwork with an abstract quality showing black bats flying against a red and yellow background.
A colorful work on paper by Isabel De Obaldia in purple, red, white, and black showing bats in flight.