The Inaugural Show: Sebastián Florido Vol. II It is the second individual exhibition of the Ecuadorian painter Sebastián Florido, with which the New South American Association of Artists (Locos) Project (NASA (L)), directed by Mauricio Aguirre, opened its mother gallery in Guayaquil on January 13, 2021. A gallery Contemporary art in Puerto Santa Ana is appropriate, since the area has not taken advantage of the cultural potential. Florido, known by his name on Instagram (@thosevaguedays), studied in Australia and had his first solo show with NASA (L) in 2018. He has his studio in Ayampe, Manabí, at his residence Casa Jaguarundi, a name he adopts from a species of feline that lives in the area.
Florido paints about his surroundings, his everyday life. At first, I inferred that it was a naive art production – lacking in perspective, with spontaneous and vibrant contrast of colors – and that it also intended a rejection of the tradition of painting through a supposed absence of technique; I associated this with the convenient mysticism of being outsider. However, my inferences were undermined by detecting a mastery in the composition of his works and the creation of an authentic pictorial universe, informed by popular and autobiographical culture; I finally pigeonholed him into naive fax territory.
The representations – both expressive and figurative – of objects, symbols and colors, coexist in harmony. In Mercado I, a white body reclining on a purple sofa is superimposed on a vibrant red background; the work falls within a long tradition of artistic representation of reclining figures. The nine exhibited works were created in 2020, they are flat in dimension, simple in textures, and hasty in the delimitation of spaces and lines; this is evident in the works Yashua or Bad Bunny ”. For those who want to immerse themselves in the currents of local production, the exhibition will be in the Santana Lofts building until February 7, 2021. (O)
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