Carlos Arnaiz / Flora

June 17 to September 7, 2013

Carlos Arnaiz’s work has often been inspired by the plant world. His studio is crammed with flowers, plants and seeds. Many of these elements have been used in more than one of his paintings and drawings.

Arnaiz does not literally copy natural forms, but is inspired by them. His formal works do not illustrate the natural world, but act as metaphors. The floral shapes do not mimic a flower but unmistakably allude to it. In Arnaiz´s work there is no mimesis of nature; but there is representation, and there is analogy of nature. It is all about exuberant recreation, full of color and exaltation.

This plant world that nurtures Arnaiz´s work is transmuted into a joyous tribute to painting. In the oil paintings and paintings on paper that constitute this sample, one immediately perceives joy – something not so common in today´s paintings – a great sense of enjoyment.

Perhaps you could define this exhibition, “Flora”, appealing to one of the virtues that Rilke distinguished as an essential condition of poetry: it´s about a celebration.