Vignette: Julio Cesar Rodriguez

"Infinity Wings" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 18X14in,  2017, POR

Julio Cesar Rodriguez’ surrealism is pure, in that it derives from an openness bordering on out-of-body experience: “When I'm painting I feel my mind is opened as a theater stage and my staging begins to establish itself with its own lights and shadows, colors and strokes…and then going to bed trying to sleep with that huge dark hat is the night. It is in this process where I feel still perched at that stage - floating in my paintings.”

We also are tempted to describe these most recent paintings as moving more into abstraction. The traditional surrealist’s descriptive precision with objects, time, and space has not been totally abandoned, but the vigorous kinetic swirl of his compositions partially obscure those elements, and our eye focuses on the few instances of representational clarity. The bird’s head from “Infinity Wings”, for example, or the self-portrait from “The Saved Essence of My Soul”, which makes explicit the feeling of theatricality the artist mentions. The figure might be onstage, or he might be painting a scenic design backstage.

It all reinforces the concept of alternate reality that is a keystone of the surrealist aesthetic. But the images are more than that label would allow. Rodriguez describes his work as, “a mixture of figuration and expressionism with an air of surrealism.” So we also witness his abstraction regroup into suggestions of the representational, as in “Muse Face”.

"The Saved Essence of My Soul" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 48X36in,  2018, POR

“When I am creating I feel locked up in a cage with clouds. They help me hold on to the tightrope of real life and it is then that I feel the exact balance with the doors of my intellect. My love for painting holds me, makes me play attached to a brush, and it is the only time where the magicians’ savor their perfect trick.”

Rodriguez’ new solo exhibition Divine Shadows, opens on April 7th in the Revelry Boutique Gallery, with a reception that evening 7:00 to 10:00 pm, and will continue through the month of April.

Hometown: Holguin, Cuba
Education: BFA, Fine Art Academy, Holguin, Cuba
Gallery Representation: Revelry Boutique Gallery
Website: www.juliocesart.com

 

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"Muse Face" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 15X15in,  2018, POR

"Spring Call" by Julio Cesar Rodriguez,  Oil on canvas, 16X20in,  2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2018 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Vignette: Anne Borders

"Carcassonnee" by Anne Borders, 30x48in, Acrylic on Canvas, $2100 | BUY NOW

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“You can’t eat it, or wear it, and it doesn’t keep you warm in the snow, but art, the creation of it, feels as necessary and elemental as sleeping and breathing.”
— Anne MacCracken Borders

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Anne Borders in her studio.

Looking at Anne Borders paintings, it is evident that they are not all the same location, or even the same country. The sky in Carcasonne, France is not the same as in Louisville, Kentucky and it is this sense of the individual characteristics of ‘place’ that seem a defining characteristic of Borders’ work. Different sky means different light, and the light affects how we see everything else. We think we know those colors, but yet they prove elusive. There is a tangible reading of the environment and the atmosphere that establishes a sense of place with confidence. It may not quite be like being there, but the artist communicates enough to assure us it is not our daily experience.

"Beargrass Blooms" by Anne Borders, 24x12in, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Wood Panel , $900 | BUY NOW

Borders’ Artist’s Statement reads, “The uniqueness of the work lies in its intentions. It shifts the perspective of the landscape as a familiar commentary to, instead, an agent of wonder and social consciousness. The message is simple; the vastness of sky, the continuity of a stream, the ongoing pulse of nature endures, in spite of us, rather than because of us.”

So the work is another reminder that great specificity communicates universality, as Borders sees the mission of her landscapes as reaching beyond the simple prosaic tradition to something that has a nearly spiritual impact on the viewer – an intelligent compassion connecting us to the natural world.

“Or have the pattern of water laid out in a way that is madness but washes away worries with steams of color and play. Nature itself will always overpower us.” – Anne Borders

On May 18 Borders will open “The Intersection”, a solo exhibit at Lenihan Sotheby International Realty in Louisville. There is an Artist’s Open House on that date from 5:00 – 7:30pm.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 42
Education: BA, Art History & Classics, University of Kentucky
Website: http://annebordersart.weebly.com

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

"Consequence" by Anne Borders, 20x14in, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Wood Panel, $900 | BUY NOW

"Fading Sun" by Anne Borders, 12x12in, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Wood Panel, $690 | BUY NOW

"Beargrass Reflected" by Anne Borders, 16x12in, Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Wood Panel, $600 | BUY NOW

"Rooftops at Sundown" by Anne Borders

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