Portal de Murcia
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From September 6 to October 11, Two Art Gallery presents for the first time in a contemporary art gallery a summary of the history of modern bullfighting through 50 portraits of renowned figures of the twentieth century made by the artist Pablo Schugurensky (Catamarca, 1954).
A concept that defines the Argentine painter perfectly is that of "Portrait Master", a genre in which he knows how to move with complete freedom and skill, demonstrating absolute mastery of the human anatomy.
Like his teacher Eduardo Bertozzi, a painter of great influence in his work whom he frequented in the eighties, Schugurensky has the ability to see the interior of the human being by transferring all his truth to the canvas, an interest in the human figure that It has always been the center of its production, highlighting especially the nude and the portrait, with works that go beyond pure pictorial representation.
Although at the beginning of his career he shows greater concern for the lines, over the years his style has evolved into more open forms, so that the stain is now the structure and gives meaning to each composition.
He has known how to take from painting all that was necessary to enrich his work: his admiration for the great masters of the past from whom he learned the passion for the human figure and the nude, among which Rembrandt occupies a prominent place with his magnificent portraits endowed with great naturalness, as well as the violent strokes of the Russian expressionist Chaïm Soutine, without forgetting the clear allusions to the English neofigurative school of Lucian Freud and the great strength of his aggressive brushstrokes, whose visual power catches you, or the fillings present in the agonized paintings of Francis Bacon, those with whom Shugurensky manages to simplify the forms away from the use of unnecessary lines.
In this new series of work dedicated to the great names in the history of bullfighting, he returns to portraiture as the main theme, if in 2010 he already made a similar project centered on well-known painters of the past, this time the protagonists are bullfighters , concretely fifty portraits of the most important figures through more than a century.
Although bullfighting has always been a source of inspiration for artists of all kinds such as the case of Zuloaga, Picasso or Miquel Barceló, this is the first time that a review of its history is made from a more intimate representation of its protagonists where the important thing for the artist is not so much the paraphernalia or everything that usually surrounds his practice but the bullfighter as a person, that facet sometimes so forgotten.
Recalling the words of the critic Eugenio D'Ors in which he affirms that "an authentic portrait must be the harmonious conjunction of three essential elements: body, soul and angel", we can see that Pablo Schugurensky's art more than fills such expectations, has the tremendous capacity to represent each bullfighter in all his humanity starting from close-ups in which he manages to freeze the essence of each of them.
There is no type of interpretation in his painting, each work is completely faithful to the character in such a way that he transmits his true psychology by constructing an image that goes beyond the fabric's own frontier to put the viewer in direct conversation with each of the people portrayed .
Something usual in his work is usually the non-existence of a background with elements that can distract the view of what is really important, allowing to delve even more into the very essence of the portrait, its physiognomy and the painting itself, turning the act of looking at a moment of great intimacy where the red color, always present in his palette, brings a degree of tension and drama to those faces that never cease to amaze by the reality of their looks.
Starting the tour of Juan Belmonte, which is said to be the forerunner of modern bullfighting, the artist builds an authentic genealogical tree that collects each of those names that have somehow contributed to the evolution of this ancient millenary art.
Rafael de Paula, José Tomás, El Fandi, Morante de la Puebla, the Rivera Ordoñez family in full, Padilla, the Murcian bullfighters Ortega Cano, Rafaelillo, Pepín Jiménez and Pepín Liria, Enrique Ponce, Sebastián Castella, the great Manolete, Dámaso González , Antoñete, Luis Miguel Dominguin, El Juli, Antonio Bienvenida, Spartaco, or the recently deceased Iván Fandiño ..., a luxury cast that summarizes the history of bullfighting through images of great expressive power, thus configuring the first great tribute made to the figure of the contemporary bullfighter.
Source: Two Art Gallery
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