A Contrarreloj: A Race Against Time

Exhibited 2004: Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A composition of 24 paintings, one for each hour of the day, depicting Clayton, the former home of Henry Clay Frick. The paintings create a double panorama view of Clayton’s exterior and its surrounding neighborhood.

A double panoramic represents the exterior view of Clayton (the former home of Henry Clay Frick) and its surroundings through a composition of 24 paintings, one for each hour of the day. Therefore the same conventional movement of the clock dividing a daily time in 24 hours is recreated going around 12 twice. For example, the panel representing the 12pm hour corresponds to the 12am at the diametrically opposite part of the circle in the composition.

Included is a diary of 54 interior views of the house.
The exhibition was a result of an artist-in-residency program sponsored by the Frick Art Museum & Historical Center.

“Paintings done by this Spanish artist at and about The Frick with an invigorated technique as elegant as the setting with conceptual ideas that inspired a new way of considering the grounds.”

2004’s BEST ART
Mary Thomas, Art Critic
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 5, 2005

DIARY OF INTERIORS: A RACE AGAINST TIME

As a counterpoint to the exterior double panorama, Félix painted one a day, as a diary, 54 interior views of the house. While the double panorama was painted during the summer and capturing the 24 hours of the day, in the winter, during the daylight hours, and sheltered in the interior of the house, it was completed alla prima (in a single session) a small painting representing a detail of Clayton.