Jesús Navarro (Spanish, b. 1952, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain)

Transcription

1 Jesús Navarro (Spanish, b. 1952, Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain) Jesús Navarro, a master painter from Spain and hyperrealist, began his career as a child prodigy. He had his first exhibition at age 15, and would later develop into a Surrealist in the line of Dalí and Magritte (1930s). Hyperréalisme is a term coined by the French in the 1970s, but it came to full fruition in the U.S. and Europe in the 1990s ( cf. Jeff Koons). Hyperrealism is generally thought of as an advancement of Photorealism of the 1960s/ 70s. While hyperrealists tend to infuse their works with emotion, startling beauty, detail, sensuality, and even narrative and humor, photorealists tended to seek the deadpan quality of Pop Art of the 1970s, as seen in Andy Warhol. Hyperrealist style may be achieved through many means, among them: airbrush, gridding from photo projections, the use of photographic stills as models, and of small, stiff brushes and stencils, etc. Education Escuela de Artes y Oficios de Jerez, (age 12), studies in painting and sculpture with professor Manuel Daza y Antonio Padilla Instituto de España (est d 1752) with Ph.D. Julio Aumente, Madrid, Spain Solo Shows Galería de Arte Elisabeth Nilsson, April 1995, San Pedro Alcántara, Málaga, Spain Galería Androx, Dec. 1994, Vigo, Galicia, Spain Galería Jorge Ontiveros, May 1991, Madrid Galería de Arte de Corte Inglés, Madrid/Barcelona/Mallorca, Spain Galería Verd y Verd, Barcelona Galería de Arte San Vicente, Valencia, Spain Gallery of Colours, Edinburgh, Scotland Galería de Arte Mar, Barcelona Grupo Escolà, Barcelona Group Shows Premier Exhibition, Caja de Ahorros, Zamora, Spain, (age 15), 1977 La Escuela de Arte Tres en Raya, Castelldefels, Barcelona, 1978 Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL, 1996 Galería Conxa Lopez, Torredembarra, Spain 1980s: Galería de Arte del Corte Inglés, Galería Canuda (Barcelona); Galería de Arte Manuel Daza (Jerez) Museum Collections Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami

2 Career Apprenticeship with master painter, Ramírez de Toro: techniques of classical painting, Jerez La Escuela de Arte Tres en Raya, founding member and Director (in cooperation with the City Hall of Barcelona) Media El Punto de las Artes, May 1991, Madrid Agenda magazine, Cinco Días, J. Navarro Del realismo a la fantasía, May, 1991 El Sol, Agenda : Vida social, Exposición de Jesús Navarro, 4 May 1991 Perfiles magazine, illustrated retrospect Diario de Jerez, El pintor Jesús Navarro expone en Madrid Vida en Atlántico Diario, El artista jerezano Jesús Navarro, en la galería Androx, 18 Dec. 94 Luis Meléndez, Spanish Old Master painter, 18th C. This work shows great fidelity to nature in all its complexity, softness, and imperfection. (Note: the butterfly moth is anything but hyper or photoreal!) Meléndez style is termed bodegón ( pub ), since the artist is remembered for his renderings of the ordinary menu fare of old Spanish taverns ( bodegas ), executed in a lush and delicious painterly manner. Meléndez is also remembered for his paintings taking a lower point of view, vis à vis onlooker and composition, a trait that can absolutely be seen in works by Navarro.

3 Example of a photorealist painting. Note how deadpan the emotional character of the painting is. Everything is focused on technique, and its fidelity to the original photograph s projection to engender the painting. The photorealist movement was largely pioneered and supported by NYC dealer Louis K. Meisel. Louis K. Meisel (American, b. 1942, New York City) is an American author, art dealer, and proponent of Photorealism. Photorealism as defined by Meisel is the creation of paintings fashioned in such a way as to appear to be photographs in their finished forms. Meisel defined the qualities of a photorealist in a kind of canon: 1. The photorealist uses the camera and photograph to gather information. 2. The photorealist uses mechanical or semi mechanical means to transfer the information to the canvas. 3. The photorealist must have the technical ability to make the finished work appear photographic. 4. The artist must have exhibited work as a photorealist by 1972 to be considered one of the central photorealists. 5. The artist must have devoted at least five years to the development and exhibition of photorealist work.

4 Hyperrealist Jeff Koon s Puppy Sculpture. Note the emotional, aw shucks feeling implicit in the work, and the expressive, almost baroque handling of the hair, tongues, and eyes not to mention the subjects darling, fraternal triplicity. Very often, Hyperrealism is rife with emotional content that Photorealism of the 1960s/ 70s necessarily avoided. The hyperrealist style is also known for its smooth, perfect fetish finishes. In painting, this would translate to mean a completely flawless, sheen like surface with little to no evidence of brushwork!

5 Hyperrealist Jesús Navarro, Iris Lilies, oil on canvas. Note the painting s effusive, emotive sense of beauty in nature. The picture appeals to our hearts in a way that Photorealism avoided. The artist is also known for his stunning, lush compositions on board usually, dazzling still lifes of fruits.

6 Jesús Navarro, still life with fruits, oil on board in a Dennis Rae Gallery frame. The Gallery is the exclusive dealer of Navarro s work in Northern California.

7 Jesús Navarro, Lemons on Tin Foil, oil on board. Going back to the beginning of this résumé, compare Navarro s still life of lemons with that of his 18th century countryman Luis Meléndez. What post Renaissance old masters were to Spain, Navarro is to contemporary hyperrealist painting. The intervening factor is the invention of the camera and photographs, something fine painters have been striving to incorporate or outfox ever since the days of Vermeer, Netherlands, 17th century (camera oscura) to Dégas in Paris, 19th century, whose cropping of ballet scenes was said to have been in imitation of photo cropping.