Reviewed by Max Andrews of Latitudes in the December 2024 issue of Artforum magazine, Karlos Martínez Bordoy’s recent exhibition “Folded Forms” at Galería FormatoComodo in Madrid offered a concise and ingenious exploration of the century-old Murphy bed concept. This fold-down bed, hinged at one end to fold against the wall and save floor space, has long served as a cinematic shorthand for cramped quarters or a cartoonish comedic prop. Martínez reimagined this curious object across a quarter of works, expanding its metaphorical potential to examine the negotiation of personal space and the layering of concealed desires.

“Martínez’s exacting choice of hardware and soft materials offered a correspondingly precise set of allusions. For example, the coarse fabric bands that braced the textile panels were of such a specific blue-gray tone and texture that they immediately brought to mind the straps of some vintage navy-issue duffel bag, while the gently curved birchwood bed slats suggested sober IKEA furniture. The coded sculptural imaginary was somehow part midcentury flophouse, part contemporary tourist-rental micro apartment—both symptoms of an economic squeeze and versions of vaguely seedy urban malaise.” Continue reading here.