Mask and Compass / Máscara y Compás

This ambitious publication presents around 100 paintings and drawings, together with writings and photographs by the artist that chart her entire career: from the new realism of her early days to the geometric and fantastic configurations of her final works. The title Máscara y Compás evokes ideas of theatre, carnival and performance through the word "máscara" (mask), whilst "compás" has a dual meaning in Spanish, referring to both a scientific compass as well as "beat" or "rhythm".
The book emphasizes how the popular, the performative and the telluric permeated the artist's initial work, highlighting her ties with the theatre. It traces the changes in her work due to the Spanish Civil War and her exile in Buenos Aires, where her portraits and still lifes metaphorically translate the impact of the environment and the culture of her adopted home. Lesser-known conceptual aspects of her late cosmic series are made evident through her previously unpublished archival holdings, recently acquired by the Museo Reina Sofía as part of the museums acquisition of the Santander-based Archivo Lafuente.