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LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS HEAT UP THE ART SCENE Passions of the most intimate kind rage in the simmering heat of summer and even more graphically in Fernando Escora’s new canvases. Lovers-the subject that animates his oeuvre-are caught in the most intimate moment, fervidly communicating their emotions through gestures, body contortions, facial expressions and, we may as well add, the interiors of the boudoir. Escora’s we, recall’ had previously exhibited that delve into sexual romp and fantasy in “Emotional Baggage” where the artist demonstrate his uncanny skills in creating both transparency and movement by way of his expressive overlapping of lines. The new suite of paintings, “Moment: Interior and Figure” (The Crucible Gallery, until May 3), explores a far simpler manner of freezing the blissful moment when lovers are united in Ero’s name, their bodies locked, merged, entwined and fused and furious and gentle love making. The protagonist’ androgynous presence, are perhaps the artist concession to keeping the gender issue well at bay, fully aware that lover comes in all shades and stripes, and sexual stereotypes have no place in his canvases. In “Unnoticed” Escora delineates two characters, presumably both women one curled up in bed in a fatal position, while the other, from the rear view, surveys the scene like a voyeur in search of new gratification. In the center, the figure of a cross looms not far behind, a grim reminder of the loosing battle waged by the philistines. The lovers have already crossed the threshold of intimacy in “Touched,” their hands firmly clasped together, their bodies quietly super imposed on each other, as their downcast faces reveal a sense of total abandon. The atmosphere is fraught with lust and danger, as symbolized by the cat fretfully chasing the mouse. The cat-and-mouse motif surfaces again in “Ignored,” where cropped bodies of lovers in a tryst compete with the image of the animals, and a chilled bottle of champagne ineluctable intensify the ceremony. Escora delineates these moment of seduction and bliss with the deadly air of sarcasm, irony and wit. While he is admittedly guided by post modern sensibility in his figuration, he draws heavily on his surreal tricks to let his message come tellingly across. He is, more over, keen on testing the possibilities of capturing the moment, of forever preserving the precious frame, when the images speak a thousand ecstatic words. And simultaneously releasing a million orgasmic charged life life-bearing substance. |
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April 23 to May
5, 2002 |
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