Beautiful Absences is an exhibition that speaks of those imperfections that hide behind appearances, and make us unquestionably better human beings. It is a collection of oil paintings, mostly large format, which fall within the genre of portraiture, through the use of a virtuoso brushwork, an aesthetic whose details are close to naturalism and realism. However, we are not facing common portraits, as the artist has decided to create numerous effects of estrangement, dissimilar suspicions in the act of reception. The most visible of these are the kinds of textile “patches” that appear on the figures, in the manner of small abstractions that intrigue us because of their geometric vocation. His is an intelligent way to combine abstraction and figuration, flat and volumetric areas. Maikel Domínguez tells us that incongruences and absences form another way of understanding beauty.
The other surprising effect concerns the objects or models chosen for representation. None of the faces painted belongs to one person. The artist takes an eye of one person, the nose of another, etc. His characters never exist in reality. They are pure abstractions, the creator’s inventions of chance and games. They are hybrids that destabilize the logic of realistic thinking. Which is also a different way of viewing beauty, this time from the fragmentation of the subject. Maikel presents several personalities through the same face. He says that disparity and irregularity are more interesting than homogeneity. He invites us to place ourselves beyond appearances, beyond the textual surface of each work. He operates from the simulation, from the costume, from the trap to the untrained eye. A quality that appeals to me tremendously, both clever and daring.
Solo Show Beautiful Absences
Cuban artist Maikel Domínguez Báster
Curated by Píter Ortega
Opening Reception: Thursday January 28, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
RIMONIM ART GALLERY
7500 NE 4th Court, Suite 103, Miami FL 33138. 305-467-6101