Abstract Baroque — Baroque abstrait

Abstract Baroque

CYB — June 2017

What the Portuguese term “barocco” originally designates is the irregularity, if not the deformity, of a pearl, unique in its difference from the expected roundness, dissimilar to the expectation — like the charm of the impromptu in the existence, the sudden appearance of the unconventional, the extra-ordinary. It defines what is unheard of. A voice coming from elsewhere? A discordant voice, at any rate, like the contrasting revelation of a rainbow when the grayness of the rain is suddenly illuminated by the sun.

I call my painting “Abstract Baroque”, because it results from digging in the instant what it is precisely unheard of, singular, unique, “baroque”. “Abstract” because what comes out of this excavation is first of all colors, intensities and contrasts, and only later shapes into forms. Representation in connection with what is generally considered “reality” is only secondary, incidental, inessential to my approach, even when this question arises.

My “Venice” or “Kyoto” paintings do belong to this “Abstract Baroque” style: a tropical Venice, feelings of imbalance recaptured on the acidity of the waves; an overhanging Kyoto bringing forth red tigers from the rocks, colorful kimonos in the silky folds of the stone, and torrential, boiling waters of yellow and pink, ultimately sinking in the sand.

What we call extravagant only reflects our lack of attention in routine. For the “Abstract Baroque” painter it is the fruit of a patient, joyful, and loving digging of the instant.