In addition Carlos has a very impressive website here
Carlos has demonstrated his technical ability with infographics, animations and technical drawings and there is a relationship between these types of media and the way that his art is presented.
There is blog space on the website where Carlos has offered comments - but to my shame I can't speak Spanish so I'm afraid I can't really give you much of the benefit of that.
Carlos is based in Malaga but his work is genuinely international and looks at urban spaces from Europe and America. I have to say that I have visited Malaga twice and I found it quite an inspirational space with mixture of old and new architectural styles - some very traditional old spaces influenced by the church, and new clean modern lines. The incredible sun light also helped!
Let's have a look at Carlos' bridges:
The bridges are given to us in strange perspectives - perspectives that we would rarely consider. They give us both the beauty and the grotesque quality of their construction. There is both a sense of huge strength and also disrepair and vulnerability. He takes us up high to low down, he takes us right to the foot of the construction to look up - where we can feel tiny. There is a matter of fact technical quality that defies glamour and speaks about the blue collar roots of how these bridges were built - but then within that something that is undeniably awesome and therefore quite cinematic. It's like a presentation of a bridge as a piece of blue collar installation art.
Carlos has also painted a series of urban skyscapes - I use this image of New York as an example:
Looking across at Manhatten Island we have again a paradox between the undeniable glamour and excitement of the American highrise skyscraper and also the grimey, poluted quality of living in such a vast city. This is all very candid. The level of detail is incredible and it must take enormous patience to produce these works.
Now (above) we're looking down on a street. You could imagine this as a scene from the Bronxs or from Harlem - looking down into the city streets - that distinctive yellow cab a sign of where in the world you are. Perhaps the two limos suggest we are more upmarket in our neighbourhood - nevertheless the light gives us darkness and a slightly dirty, gritty quality.
Now we're in London in the underground (Charing Cross). I think this is my favourite actually. The film posters are amazing (is that a 'Pulp Fiction' poster?), the urban graffiti, you can feel the underground breeze caused by the vaccum of the moving vehicles - the smell of the vehicles - the noises... This is incredibly evocative.
So contrast these paintings with the following:
The European settings - these distinctly Spanish settings (Malaga above, Alcaniz below) give us a world much older and more traditional to art than the urban environments of New York or London. The presentation has obvious similarities that are particular to the artist - perspective of looking up at or through the architecture. There is the same fascination with structural angles, edges and archways.
I look at the colours in the lower images - the earthy quality of the stonework - which conveys such age and dignity in the buildings - and I reconsider my earlier comment about Charring Cross and think that this is my favourite instead.
Carlos Lirola is a marvellous artist who gives you something that you can sit and marvel at for a while. Take a bit of time and really enjoy. It's quite immersive and very enjoyable. It's also incredibly skillful.
No comments:
Post a Comment