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Caio Fonseca
Upon entering the gallery the first thing to grab you is the very graphic nature of these paintings. They are reminiscent of large woodcuts, the actual blocks rather than the prints. Next you quickly pick up on the texture. Lines are created when etched into the paint in a zigzagging stitch pattern or when the paint is deftly shoved together to bump up into a relief. The effect is to suggest cloth panels sewn together. On one hand Fonseca�s paintings consist of these very real and illusionary physical characteristics. On the other, the large forms contradict this notion in the graceful fluidity they evoke. They sway and dance across the canvas, which, in part, is one of the artist�s self admitted goals. The diverse combination is the spice in this work and provides them with a down to earth reality. Each is distinctly memorable and surprisingly, the smaller works on paper hold their own with the larger canvases. |
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Fonseca works his materials very well too. The paintings are acrylic on canvas but look more like oils or even like gouache, which is what the works on paper were done with. The dry color adds to the reality this work conveys. A nice balance is established between the placement of lines, color and surface handling, and particularly with how the forms are painted. The ground elements are complex variations of white and cream yellows made up from several colors. The figurative forms take on more recognizable colors such as the primaries but even here, the color is not merely flat but constructed. Yet for all of this there is a hint of process to them, albeit a very subtle hint. Fonseca |
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