As unfathomable and mysterious as the depths of the oceans, so too do the paintings of the Spanish artist José Enguídanos, born in 1962, appear to us. This is the third time he has presented a solo exhibition at DIE GALERIE in Frankfurt. With his exhibition “Tiempo de Aguas profundas” (Time of Deep Waters), the artist invites us to immerse ourselves in a visual world that transcends reality. His seemingly narrative paintings offer no explanation; they merely provide the tools for subjective interpretation. Suggestion, rather than mere description, is the driving force behind his work. Enguídanos’ paintings are part of a more poetic concept, one that seeks to evoke emotions and provoke questions. The key lies within the viewer; only they know the answers to the questions posed by the paintings. Enguídanos’ paintings emerge from an imagination, an expanded reality. He leads us to places he has never visited, places that, through his and our imagination, become new, imagined realms. He combines classical oil painting with new experimental techniques, creating an unreal, mystical, and enigmatic atmosphere. While in the past he particularly sought the dramatic effect of chiaroscuro, today it is the sfumato technique developed by Leonardo da Vinci that allows José Enguídano to create a blurred, hazy, and mysterious landscape. Intangible elements such as fog, light, water, or fire particularly fascinate the artist and also present a technical challenge. His experimental approach with oil paint and various glazes, which often extends to the floor of his studio in Albacete, Castile, also incorporates serendipity. The result is earthy, atmospheric landscapes and cityscapes with an illusory sense of perfectly staged depth and sophisticated perspectives. His current works also show a clear shift towards color and stronger contrasts. In certain instances, he lifts the veil over the paintings, allowing the color to become clearer and purer. A vibrant pink is a particularly frequent hue on his canvases. His subjects arise from memories and imagined scenarios. Travels undertaken by the artist or personal experiences have only indirectly inspired him to paint. José Enguídanos draws his inspiration primarily from poetry, literature, and his own imagination. Deserted landscapes are a common subject in these paintings, although the human figure has gained importance in recent years. He increasingly, yet still sporadically and in isolation, employs it to heighten the absurdity and unreality of the visible world. This disrupts the apparent realism. Enguídanos paints daydreams, surreal compositions whose thematic connections often only become clear to him during the painting process, and he is convinced that his imagination can go far beyond real-world experience. The gallery is showing more than 40 new paintings by the internationally renowned artist José Enguídanos, who was recently featured in a large-scale museum exhibition in his hometown of Albacete, in its spring 2019 exhibition. The artist is also thus kicking off the gallery’s 40th anniversary year.
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