GLOOMY STILL LIFE

"In this exercise of, in a certain sense, review of concepts seen so far, we will also work on some new ones.

We start from a frequent attitude in Spanish art throughout time,

It is extreme austerity applied to still lifes. Although they are not the only ones (Velázquez, Zurbarán or Antonio García are other examples), we look at two specific artists: Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627) and Paco Gómez Martínez (1918-1988).

The first is a baroque painter, a Carthusian monk since 1604, characterized by his religious and austere painting.

 

Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627)

Paco Gomez Martinez (1918-1988)

The second, a dilettante photographer ("the tailor who photographed on Sundays") who portrays Madrid in the 50s and 60s from a poetic and architectural point of view.

Four centuries of difference separate and unite two similar sensibilities.

From his work we will review the treatment of textures and lace, in this case, from a "flat" image. I also propose a change of scale. We will scale an A4 to an A3 by means of diagonal lines (the "cross") or the grid.

As a "new" concept, or rather, one that we approach with special attention, light appears".

Juan Arrosagaray