See the May/June edition of NHOME Magazine with a curatorial insight article on "Unveiling Texas" by Gallery Director Gabriel Diego Delgado.
Read the full article here at:
installation view of exhibition
installation view of exhibition
Unveiling
Texas
For epochs landscapes
have captured the attention of artists around the world, from the infamous
Monet lily ponds to the Japanese mountain tapestries; our world has been the
surrounding force for a driven passion in fine art. Although landscape painting
is centuries old, painters have been a constant in the field capturing the
moment , but abstract landscapes combine the artistic expressions of the artist
with the solid grounding of an intuitive understanding and cognitive recognition
of place; of geography; of horizon; sea, land and air.
Yes, impressionistic landscape
painting of the 1800’s and early 1900’s did introduce modernist tendencies
including fauvism and aspects of cubism. However, with a the standard
horizon-line foreground, middle and background composition being the main-stay
of this particular aesthetic there was always an unspoken integrity passed
through the generations. With
abstract landscapes we understand the poignant properties of the terrain, mixed
with factual element.
Texas
landscape is no different, a scenic sensibility that continues to inspire. Historic
pictorial contributions to the Lone Star State can be traced back to the late
1880’s with the Onderdonk family and the portrayal of the bluebonnet Texas
hillsides. Salinas, Wood, Arpe, and the Harrisons – all playing an important
role in Texas inspired landscape painting.
But one thing they did not conquer was the construct of abstract
reference.
Two artists
50 years apart sought to capture the timeless sensibility that we know as the
Texas, Southwest and Mexican landscapes. Through individual aspirations,
artistic interpretations and geographic assimilations, we discover that half a
century adds even more lineage to the pictorial depiction of Texas story;
brought forth between generational Texpatriots.
In the 1960’s San
Antonio painter Jose Vives-Atsara, (1919 – 2004) an internationally recognized
painter, dove into landscape abstraction during a time when Abstract
Expressionism was in its infancy. Highlights of his decade’s long artistic career include a city
of San Antonio initiated gift to the Pope John Paul II for the Vatican
presented by Archbishop Patrick Flores in 1987 to painted contributions within
the art collection of Juan Carlos, King of Spain.
His mastered palette
knife technique lent itself to bold color gestures, intuitive mark making, and
swatches of bright and colorful hues bringing the Texas, Mexican and Spanish
landscapes to life. Known for his florals, landscapes, and renditions of Texas
scenes, Vives-Atsara made a name during a
time when artistic liberties were a far reach in the genre of traditional
landscape painting.
For Jose
Vives-Atsara, one can only explore personal aspects of his life to begin to
understand a leap into a fray of abstraction. To see inside the artist’s mind,
you see a world turned upside-down –international relocation, new job, and new
house. As a thriving art career began to unfold, Jose Vives-Atsara -- already
known for his still-lifes, portraits, landscapes, and wildflowers began to
paint a series of abstract landscapes with his signature 11 color palette; a
choice one might think was reflective of the chaos of such personal upheavals
and distresses.
Abstract Landscape by Vives-Atasara, illustrates this new exploration
of intellectual abstraction. Closing in on the rocky pathway like some
overgrown Tim Burton landscape, the trees line the gauntlet, creating a
foreboding effect on top of artistic mystification. Adding to the mystery
is the fact we do not know if Vives-Atsara is painting the Guadalupe River, the
Texas Hill Country, the Spanish countryside, or the various seascapes that
captured his attention.
“My using a palette
knife, a spatula, happened accidentally. The professors that taught me
always used brushes. I experimented with the spatula and I like the
result; it added improved texture and spontaneity to my paintings. An
artist must be educated in the standard techniques of painting, but there is no
substitute for his personal daily experience and his mistakes”, says Vives-Atsara.
In
Vives-Atsara’s work we see the movement in which the work was created, the
potent and deliberate manipulation of color mixed with purposeful marks,
gestures and highlights. With quick whips with the palette knife Vives-Atsara cuts into
the paint, creating cactus needle-like textural accents in select areas.
Red, orange, blue and yellow swatches of color dance across the
composition. We begin to see the piecemeal landscape scene as our eyes
digest the familiar outlines; trees, rocks, and path.
On the other
hand, San Antonio artist Russell Stephenson gives us a collection of meditative,
romantic and warm golden-brown abstract landscapes. These paintings contrast his predecessor with
images that are minimal in bright hues; but instead continually capture the
setting sun or the dawning of a new day in a signature aesthetic that gains
ground in rich earth tones.
Stephenson
paints Mesa, Caprock, Llano Estacado, Bastrop, Lubbock, Rockport and other
locations in his Panoramic Texas
series with distinctive horizon lines, giving us familiar elements to enter the
composition; familiarize ourselves with the terrain and ingest the beautiful
quality of that specific topographical location – mountains, coast, plains,
etc.
With glazes,
textures, and a mastered control of pressure, Stephenson lays forth bountiful clouds
and atmospheres that dance across the Texas skies ~ a pictorial grandeur to the
majestic skyline; visually reinforcing the “big and bright” of the revered
Texas tune. We begin to see the role the firmament plays in relation to the
lands below; a relationship broken down into minimal strata.
Unlike
Vives-Atsara, Stephenson grounds us with bold, linear horizontal lines that
break up the special abstractions into two distinctive properties. Vives-Atsara
surrounds us in color, with surprising wicks, flicks, and wisps that create
active energies with a literal all over composition; giving respect to the
Abstract Expressionist call.
As the Fine
Art lineage of Texas landscapes continues into the new generation, we will
again see how the past affects the future.
One thing will always hold true
-- Texas acts as muse in her own stately liberties, drawing artists from all
over to bath in her Lone Star luxury; adding inspiration, tranquility and
perseverance to individual artwork –no matter the medium, genre, or aesthetic.
