Reaction Paper to an Exhibition

Art Museum of the Americas

Museo del Arte de las Américas

Jonathan Paul Loomis

February 20, 1999 ~ 20 de febrero de 1999

Introduction to Spanish Translation

Prof. Icaza

I had a variety of reactions to the Art Museum of the Americas and to the traveling exhibition on the surrealistic work of Benjamín Cañas. On one level I reacted to his particular artistic style and on a second level to his concepts, as I saw them, expressed through his work. After viewing the Cañas exhibit I also visited the permanent exhibition which had been arranged on the theme of Surrealism. As with the Cañas exhibit I reacted both to the artists' techniques and to their themes.

I was impressed with Cañas' particular style of painting. Many of his works had been done on wood, which gave them a distinct appearance. He focused on the human figure a great deal, which is uncommon in surrealism, but his human forms were not portrayed realistically. They were a strange combination of thin and fat characteristics. They were thin to the point of appearing malnourished, while at the same time their bodies seemed to protrude in a bulbous manner where muscle would normally be. The result was that his figures were both comical and grotesque. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of his work was that Cañas was skillfully able to make his figures appear realistic while at the same time distorting their features so that the final result on the view is one of revulsion at their seeming deformities.

Cañas did not rely solely on the human figure through. Many of his works included geometric shapes and objects from everyday life. In many cases human faces or parts of the human body were portrayed as extensions of geometric shapes, adding to the surreal aspects of his works. He masterfully used blank space in many of his works to accent the painted regions.

I had a very difficult time ascertaining what Cañas intended his themes to be. In searching for some of his intentions I felt it was necessary to look at some of the recurrent events in his works. I noticed that his human forms were often in impossible position. For example, the torso and legs would be going in opposite directions. I also noticed that his human figures were tended to blend in with his geometric shapes and everyday objects. The combination of these to recurring events led me to believe that Cañas saw humans not as beings with power over their own destinies, but rather as objects who were forced into unnatural positions by the world around them.

I was much impressed with the work of the other surrealists that was on display in the permanent gallery of the museum on the second floor. This work represented a much broader range of ideas and styles than did the work of Cañas, simply because there were no two works by the same artist. However, I found this half of the museum to be just as interesting as the half dedicated to Cañas.

The artistic styles represented in the permanent collection varied greatly. Most of the work was done in a very standard surrealist style, one that consisted mostly of landscape and unintelligible shapes. However there was also a collection of work done in more creative and distinctly Latin American styles. Some of the artists used allusions to traditional Latin American geodesic designs and patterns in their work and focused on distinctly Latin American themes, such as human sacrifices. The museum's collection also included examples of the work of some of the surrealist movement's most famous artists who were pioneers of their own styles and only happened to be Latin American, Wilfredo Lam of Cuba and Roberto Matta of Chile for example.

Although the themes of the artists in the permanent collection varied much more than did the themes represented in the Cañas collection there were a few which made a distinct impression on me. I took special note of the work of Humberto Aquino because of his unique mix of hyperrealism and anatomical surrealism. The particular work on display was one in which he had presented an incredibly realistic portrait of a man in the bottom of the painting. Above it he had suspended what seemed to be the inner organs to this man in a sort of emotional dance that reflected the expression in the portrait.

The Colombian painter Alejandro Obregon did a second work in the permanent collection that made a strong impression on me. It commemorates the deaths of student activists in Colombia during a period of social unrest by presenting a human-like figure on an altar. The figure is composed entirely of indigenous patterns and the entire painting is accented with the color red.

In conclusion, although I felt that I had a difficult time understanding fully the themes presented by the artists I did fell that I could appreciate their artistic talents, both from the technical and also from a creative standpoint.

Tenía varias reacciones al Museo del Arte de las Américas y a las obra surrealistas de Benjamín Cañas en la exhibición temporaria. En algun nivel reaccioné a su propio estilo artistico y en otro nivel a los conceptos que expreseó a trevés de sus obras, o mejor dicho a sus conceptos como los interpreté. Después de ver la exhibito de Cañas visité la exhibición permanente que se arregló en tema del surrealismo, y como a la exhibición de Cañas reaccioné ambos a las técnicas artisticas y a las temas presentadas.

Me impresió el estilo de pintar particular de Cañas. El pintió la mayoría de sus obras en madera que les dió aparición distinta. El acentuyó la figura humana que no es normal en el surrealismo, pero no las representó como lo real, sino son combinaciones extrañas de figuras flacas y gordas. El las enflaqueció hasta el punto que aparecen que sufren de la desnutrición, entretanto en lugar de muslo los cuerpos se proyectan y se engordan para aparecer bulbosos. La resulta es que sus figuras son ambos cómicas y grotescas. Es posible que el aspecto que me inquietó más fuera que Cañas, como experto, podía pintar figuras realisticas y al mismo tiempo distoricionándolas para que la resulta final es que se tiene repugnancia cuando se las ve sus deformidades.

Pero Cañas no dependía exclusivamente en la figura humana. Muchas de sus obras incluyen objetos comunes y formas geométricas. Para aumentar el surrealismo en sus obras, en muchos casos él presentó rostros y otras partes del cuerpo humano como extenciones de figuras geométricas. También, como maestro, usó espacio blanco en sus obras para acentuar las regiones pintadas.

Para mi fue muy difícil indagar lo que Cañas intentó ser las temas de sus obras. En busqueda de algunas de sus intenciones, creí que era nesecario notar lo que eran los ocurencias más repedidas en las obras. Noté que a menudo sus cuerpos humans estuvieron en posiciones imposibles. Por ejemplo, el torso y las piernas van hacia direcciones opuestas. También noté una tendencia de mezclar las figuras humanas y las geométricas. La combinación de estas ocurrencias repedidas me causó creer que Cañas no veía a los humanos como seres con el poder para cambiar su mundo, sino como objetos que el mundo que los alredean forza hacia posiciones innaturales.

Me impresaron mucho las obras exhibidas en la parte del musea permanente del piso dos que pintaron los otras surrealistas. Simplemente a causa de que no había dos obras del mismo artista la del exhibición permanente tenía una mejor variedad de temas y estilos, aunque me interesó esta parte del museo tanto como la media dedicada a la obra de Cañas.

Los estilos artísticos representadas en la colección permanente variaron mucho, pero la mayoría era de estilo tipico del surrealismo, generalmente consistían de paisajes y formas que no se puede identificar, y a pesar de este la colección tenía algunas obras hechas en estilos más creativas y distintamente latinoamericanas. Algunos artistas usaron alusiones a diseños tradiciones latinoamericanas y las composiciones en sus obras focan distinamente en temas latinoamericanas como el sacraficio humano. La colección del museo incluyó ejemplos de la obra de algunos de los artistas más famosos del movimiento surrealista quienes eran pioneros de sus propios estilos y por casualidad también eran latinoamericanas, el cubano Wilfredo Lam y el chileno Roberto Matta como ejemplos.

Aunque las temas de los artistas del colección permanente variaron mucho había algunos que me impresionaron distintamente. Noté specificamente la obra de Humberto Aquino a causa de su mezcla única de hiperrealismo y surrealismo anatómico. La obra particular que exhibió era una en que él presentó un retrato superrealistica de un hombre al fondo de la pintura y arriba ha suspendido lo que pareció como los órganos interiores del propio hombre que parecían bailar emocionalmente y reflejaban las expresiones del retrato.

El artista colombiano Alejandro Obregon pintó una obra segunda que me impresionó mucho. Presenta una figura, quien sea humano, encima de un altar para comemorar las muertes de los alumnos-activistas colombians de una época de inquietud social. Composiciones indígenas componen casi toda la figura y el artista accentó toda la pintura con el color rojo.

Para concluir, aunque creí que fue difícil comprender en completo las temas de los artistas sí creí que pude valorar sus habilidades artísticas, ambos de la vista técnica y la creativa.