|
 Explore our
Archived
Exhibitions |
|
by Vanessa Conte
|
| |
The styles and palettes of four Latin American painters bear the imprint of their native cultures, each developed with the enthusiastic intention of carrying on a tradition through the eyes of a contemporary artist.
Featuring the artists Carmen Einfinger, Henry Pelissier and Mauricio Toulumsis. |
|
|
Carmen Einfinger |
|
|
|
Although she was born in Nottingham, England, Carmen Einfinger spent the earliest part of her life in Brazil, during the impressionable years of age 3 to age 19. She was raised in a German boarding school there before traveling to the United States to receive formal training as a painter. However culturally diverse, Einfinger considers herself to be "Brazilian by nationality." |
D. Rosa (The Spiritualist (1998)
Carmen Einfinger |
|
|
|
Characters and scenes in Einfinger's brilliantly hued paintings are excerpts from her experiences in Brazil. "When I was 17 years old, I regularly attended seances conducted by a medium named Dońa Rosa. Spiritualists are highly popular in Brazil, especially amongst the poor; spiritual rituals provide them with riches for the soul. D.Rosa (The Spiritualist) portrays this knowing medium in her home amongst fate-telling cards, and it is painted with the detail of someone very familiar with her subject.
|
Women in the Movies (1997)
Carmen Einfinger |
|
|
|
Einfinger's self-portraiture highlights the aspects of her "nationality" she sees clearly in the person she has become. Force of Nature is a "metaphorical portrait" of the artist, "an attempt to express Brazilian sensuality. Women in Brazil are very physical and comfortable with their bodies, due possibly to the wonderful warm climate and luscious tropical nature. People are warm and very expressive."
|
Force of Nature (1998)
Carmen Einfinger |
|
|
|
The strong physical presence and communication of Brazilian women are also described in Women In the Movies, a painting that combines images of females in film impressed on Einfinger during her teens. "My image of femininity was shaped, to a large extent, by the strong and sexual women in the movies."
Sign the guestbook of Carmen Einfinger.
|
The Orchard of Oranges (1999)
Carmen Einfinger |
|
|
|
|
|
Henry Pelissier |
|
|
|
"The 'canon' of beauty in my country is far different from that of the Western civilization. If you asked a Haitian artist to paint a Venus, she would probably turn out to be a very well-shaped woman with big buttocks." The graceful figures in Henry Pelissier's exuberant paintings of dancers, musicians and vendors portray the female as joyfully voluptuous, reflecting the Haitian ideal of beauty.
|
Dancers & Palm Trees (1999)
Henry Pelissier |
|
|
|
Pelissier paints primarily from his imagination, incorporating figures, locations and colors from his native Haiti. A large portion of his portfolio is centered on a bizarre occurrence that took place when the artist was twenty: a mysterious parade of dancers, "choreographed without music," danced around him and his girlfriend on the street, and then left without a word. Canvases of beautiful acrobats dressed in yellow, blue, green and purple are the result of the artist's lingering memory of this night. "The event made such an impression on me that years later those images have emerged in my paintings."
|
Dance for Mercy (1999)
Henry Pelissier |
|
|
|
Many of the artist's other compositions are a combination of personal history and imagination. Two robust women sit on a beach in Pearl's Vendors, selling goods to make money. "Those giant women with large hips come exclusively from my dreams. In my country, there is a city called Jacmel known for the beauty of her beaches and her people. Those vendors could have come from such a place. Like an opera composer, I dramatize colors and shapes in an effort to reach the sublime."
Sign the guestbook of Henry Pelissier. |
Pearl's Vendors (1999)
Henry Pelissier |
|
|
|
|
|
Mauricio Toulumsis |
|
|
|
Mexican art has a long-standing tradition of surrealism that, according to Mexican artist Mauricio Toulumsis, comes from simply living in this land of color and magic. "The grand artistic traditions that hold this country together are so strong that you can feel them from your first years of life. Here, the magic of colorful life mixed with the religion and the aromatic food lets us experience surrealism every day."
|
Deep Yellow I (1993)
Mauricio Toulumsis
| |
|
|
In several of Toulumsis' works, he incorporates the crucifix, the Christian symbol of suffering and selflessness. "Since the beginning of my life, I have always felt Mexico's, and my family's, immense devotion to God. When I include the cross, it represents the indolence of today's world, in many aspects…but there is more than the cross that speaks of the admiration of God."
|
Deep Blue 3 (1997)
Mauricio Toulumsis
|
|
|
|
Toulumsis expresses himself through the human figure itself, elongating and truncating androgynous figures to represent all of humanity. "All of the human figures are tall, especially their heads, because they are reaching and looking to God and Creation. When I paint human fragments, I am saying that we are still incomplete; some elements are missing from our nature, especially our souls and spirits."
"All of my works come from a thirst for the emotional balance…between soul, spirit and body…that will allow me to understand my mission in this lifetime."
Sign the guestbook of Mauricio Toulumsis.
|
Deep Blue 7 (1997)
Mauricio Toulumsis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
