JOSE MARIA CUNDIN retrospective show
s 40 Years Wandering Through the Desert ∧
opening reception march 3rd 6 – 9 pm
S 40 YEARS WANDERING THROUGH THE DESERT
∧
Jose Maria Cundin’s retrospective exhibition includes examples of the diminutive grotesques that populated the artist’s canvases for the first thirty years of his career and the luminous abstractions to which he has devoted himself since 1990. As Cundin has said, “The task of the artist is not just to paint but to extrapolate the most extreme stage of contemplation.” He goes on to explain that “there comes a moment when your tools become a handicap. You have to invent new tools to express the vision you want to shape. I realized it was almost dishonest to repeat myself in a formula. I was like a lemon with no more juice. So I decided to explore the territory of formality itself.” Few mature artists at the peak of successful careers have had the courage to abandon a celebrated style in order to distill the mysteries of the visible universe into the simplest-and most profound-questions of color, light, and form. In all of the paintings included in this show, one can observe the struggle of an artist with his medium, but in the work of the last seventeen years, that artist has abandoned the tricks and dodges and sleights of hand that distract a viewer from the difficulties of the art. There are no narrative elements in these abstractions to engage the romantic, no figurative elements to impress the connoisseur; these paintings are a direct confrontation of the problems of color, line, and volume. And the result is a tour de force. John Biguenet
exhibition dates march 2nd – april 28th, 2007 opening reception saturday march 3rd 6 – 9 pm
Front Cover: Burukide II (Basque Political Transfigure) 50" x 58", oil on linen, 1994
El Olentzero (Big Foot) 58" x 68", oil on linen, 1998
Socialist Dream of the Basic Bread Basket 44" x 50", oil on linen, 2007
Retablo of The Bad Company (Center Panel of Triptych) 46" x 52", oil on linen, 2007
The Four Seasons (Commentary to Vivaldi) 48" x 56", oil on linen, 2007
Transfigure with Movement Toward the Right and Clear Tendency to the Left 50" x 58", oil on linen, 1994
518 julia street, new orleans, la 70130
The Paradox of William Tell (Homage to Arcimboldo The Marvelous) 18" x 18" x 31", polychromed polyester, 1992 ARTWORK © JOSE MARIA CUNDIN 2007 CATALOG © GALLERY BIENVENU
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