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`Four Painters, Four Visions’
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When most people think of Basque art, they usually have visions of children and sheep dancing in celebratory circles or colorfully rendered pieces of folklore steeped in rich tradition. Seldom comes to mind, contemporary pictorial art, bordering on abstract.
Boise State’s Visual Arts Center is presenting Four Painters, Four Visions: Works on paper by four contemporary Basque artists. The exhibition will be showing until Sept. 28 in the Liberal Arts Building Gallery.
The traveling exhibit is sponsored by the Center for Basque Studies, University Studies Abroad Consortium, and the Nevada Arts Council.
All four artists hail from the Basque city of San Sebastian, Spain. Infused in their work is a collective social and political voice, distinctly interpreted by their varied styles.
Javier Balda:
Balda’s minimalist, untitled acrylic and ink works on paper suggest linear patterns, defining industrial images. His mixed-media form blends collage with bold strokes of black, blue, and brown, enhanced by the subtle in-and-outs of translucency.
Balda describes his art as a “fascination with geometry. Fascination with the simplicity of the visual impact and for the brilliant, constructive possibilities of a line or a circle.” He muses that the end result is “a labyrinth in which the builder can hardly orient himself. Still, he can rest in his maze’s corridors.”
The urbane essence of his work is translated nicely through the use of geometric shapes. Balda’s four paintings bring to mind Rauschenberg and Malevich.
Juan Luis Goenaga:
Goenaga’s large untitled works of charcoal and pastel on paper are grand interpretations of prehistoric cave paintings. His use of organic shapes and earth tones offer an examination into archeological recollection.
Almost indiscernible animal images seem to float in the background of swirling orange, green, saffron, and burnt sienna brush strokes. Like French impressionist Cozanne, Balda spent much time in the countryside, but eventually submerged himself in the chaos of metropolitan life.
Goenaga’s paintings allure the mind into their nebulous, organic composition. Both of his displayed works are shadowy primordial effigies to the dark side of nature and human psychology.
Ramon Zuriarrain:
Zuriarrain’s collection of numbered watercolors are treated well with earthy, comfy tones. All but two of the paintings appear to be flattened out, void of any perspective. These works accentuate dense, flat landscapes with blue, forest green, salmon, black, and lime green hues.
Two of his paintings depict overgrown garden terraces, which inevitably draw the mind deeply into his botanical wonderment.
Zuriarrain’s obvious fascination with natural landscapes is apparent because of the complexity of his paintings: overgrown foliage, dark walls of ivy, and verandas are captured impressionistically on paper.
Eduardo Lopez:
Lopez’ acrylic and ink works on paper imply his abstract sensibilities. He intentionally places bold, fluid paint strokes to define dreg like figures.
Within the composition are vividly colored circles, suggesting planets. His painting Estatico organically delineates an alien-like, possibly adolescent figure. The android is apparently wearing a jersey labeled number five, proposing that the planets could actually be soccer balls? Like all great abstract art, the meaning is highly open for interpretation.
Two of Lopez’ paintings demonstrate his traditional use of space by linearly rendering form to gothic cathedrals and human anatomy. Both of these works are reminiscent of Matisse’s fluid lines.
J. Patrick Kelly
