Humberto Cuan
Masters of the Imagination: The Latin American Fine Art Exhibition
September 10 - October 1, 2010
Reception:
Thursday September 16, 2010 6-8 PM
Press Release
The Colombian painter Humberto Cuan creates stylized, colorful portraits that are both intimate and evasive. His figures generally appear against feature-less, weathered monochrome backdrops dressed in bold clothes that often combine solid colors and patterns like stripes and polka dots. Their poses often suggest some tentativeness or self-consciousness, but their faces, rendered in pasty white with detailed features, communicate cold confidence. Often there’s an air of awkwardly prolonged youth to these mysterious characters, slouching on chairs and couches, standing next to each other tentatively, as though they’re not quite prepared for adulthood.
This gives Cuan’s oil compositions a universal appeal, suggesting developing adult individuals still hampered by some inter-generational confusion or reluctance. Seen in this light, the abstract, indeterminate spaces these characters inhabit suddenly make all the more sense. Located neither in youth nor in adulthood, Cuan’s shy and tentative figures float in a vague in-between region with strong, emotive colors, but lacking details and definition. His paintings portray beautiful lives in transition and transformation.
Artist Statement
We are a part of every instant, as every instant is a part of us; forever inseparable. I try to paint an alleged reality in a sincere manner; I say alleged because there will never be an absolute reality. The way I approach this challenge is autobiographically, through my relationship with my surroundings. My inspiration does not exist alone,I have to work at it. I like to mold it, caress it and manipulate it. I do this with everyday things and activities like music or meeting an interesting person. I like to play with ambivalence in my art; to mix bright colors with nostalgia, anger with a caress, play desire against fear, showing the sarcasm of existence. I use casein to give texture to the canvass and remove the pigment's shine and allow the charcoal to run a free flowing strong line while still retaining a soft shady quality.
Invitation to the exhibition
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View the catalog page
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Artists in this exhibition
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