The vital works of Victor Fernandez (Necochea, 1963), displayed on two levels of the Zero 618 gallery, are in permanent movement. Reconciliation of opposites in the series that make up the sample “Migrant Paintings”, condensing a duality reflected both in the technique of the images and in their narrative. In the realism and fine lines of the main figures and the blurred atmosphere of the backgrounds of his works, the artist reflects his passion for painting and his ability to recreate scenes of undeniable emotion.
Stories as old and as current as humanity in 27 oil paintings in which protagonists from different eras converge, scattered geographies and remote landscapes, historical architectures that resist the passage of time that contain fragile boats that capsize, like those of Africans at sea Mediterranean, Haitians in the Caribbean. Between the brightness of hope and the gray and sad resignation, his “migrant” paintings, free, describe some immigrants (those who come), such as those who arrived in La Boca, and other emigrants (those who leave).
The eloquent titles of the oil paintings reflect his knowledge of the Ancient Rome, his research on alchemy, his love for the neighborhood of La Boca, his attentive eye on current affairs; three recent paintings on paper give an account of the displaced people of the Ukraine. Mixed feelings in the nostalgia of the departure and the tremor of the journey, the spirit of the beginnings and the fear of the open endings, as in “When the soul does not want to leave”.
The artist, who since 2014 is also director of the Museum “Benito Quinquela Martin” of La Boca, not only develops good management at the head of the institution but is an “adopted son” of the neighborhood, whose history and nooks and crannies worth looking at knows like few others. “Immigrants reappear in my works through various series. Maybe because I’m one of them. Perhaps because in a certain way, we all are”, concludes Fernández.
PHOTOS: KINDNESS MUTUVERRÍA PR AND PRENSOPOLIS (PHOTO BY ROMEO BENDERSKY).
