La ciudad invisible | Paco Díaz

"Le città invisibili," the Italian title of Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities, gives the piece its name and refers to a previous exhibition by the artist. The choice of the Italian edition responds both to a personal connection and a chromatic issue, in dialogue with his pictorial series Books, where the color of the spines plays an essential role. Calvino's book, in which Marco Polo describes imaginary cities to Emperor Kublai Khan, serves as a conceptual starting point: a reflection on travel, desire, symbols, and the human condition. The final quote—to seek what is not hell amidst hell and give it space—acts as an interpretative key. The selection of books revolves around travel and transformation, both physical and mental. Works such as Dracula, Kafka on the Shore, The Lying Life of Adults, The Vile Life of a Madam, or The Bad Habit share characters who evolve profoundly until they reach a form of catharsis. Another important axis is Madrid and its urban and symbolic transformation, through books dedicated to Antonio Palacios, El Retiro Park, the architectural periphery, or the city itself as a literary character. The collection is completed with key artistic and literary references—Rothko, Saramago, Velázquez, Virginia Woolf, or Gala Dalí—which reinforce the ideas of inner journey, change, memory, and identity construction. Overall, the piece articulates a reflection on travel understood as constant transformation: physical, emotional, artistic, and urban.