'Funky Town' at Stevens Square Center for the Arts
Categories: Art
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| Weismann |
| Alfonso Fernandez |
Fernandez was born in Mexico City, but grew up all over South
America and Spain. When he was a kid his family didn't have money to buy
art supplies, so he and his brothers would run around the train tracks
in search of coal to use as charcoal, which they used to draw on old
wrestling posters used as paper.
Fernandez's memories of the past stay with him. The paintings in this exhibition seem to be a reflection on the shapes and colors of Minneapolis, but also carry a distance too, taken from the perspective of someone who is from far away, bringing his own experiences and memories to his observations.
Fernandez's memories of the past stay with him. The paintings in this exhibition seem to be a reflection on the shapes and colors of Minneapolis, but also carry a distance too, taken from the perspective of someone who is from far away, bringing his own experiences and memories to his observations.
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| Alfonso Fernandez |
| New York |
The mouth image is something that crops up in more than one of Fernandez's paintings. There's something horrific about it, though it's rather cartoonish. Is it a comment on the society here? Or perhaps the mouth represents the artist himself? Either way, it's a disturbing but powerful image.
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| Alfonso Fernandez |
| Loring Park |
Fernandez takes on the University's campus more than once, creating a gorgeous interpretation on the Weismann Art Museum. The painting captures the space's intense energy, giving it color while at the same time embracing its inherent robotic quality.
In Loring Park, made with natural pigments, acrylic, spray paint, ink, and charcoal, Fernandez depicts the area using a thin wash that blobs up at places, with circles and translucent rectangles floating around the canvas. At the bottom of the painting there is a kind of skyline, made of orange outlines and a bright yellow block, that anchors the more fluid motion of the rest of the piece, with the bright yellow repeated in two other places.
Not all of Fernadez's paintings showcase the artist's vision of Minneapolis's buildings. He also captures the natural elements of this city, showing his view of the lakes, with their beauty and dirtiness all mixed together. The balance between the abstraction that he uses with elements of real places and things create images that capture a unique perspective of Minneapolis's spaces.
You can check out "Funky Town" on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. through October 30 at Stevens Square Center for the Arts (1905 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis).
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