Plumas Arts presents BLANCO |
| Plumas Arts is proud to present an exhibition by Rafael Blanco new Feather River College Art instructor through the month of November. All are invited to meet and welcome a great new addition to our local art community at the Opening Reception on Friday, November 7, 2014 at the Plumas Arts Gallery, 525 Main St. in Quincy from 5PM to 7PM. |
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| In his Artist Statement Rafael explains a bit about himself and his art and introduces his show…
I believe a painting to be irreplaceable due to the nature of its creation and process: the human trace behind the imperfections and subjectivity. In the other hand, the camera can capture the moment of human expression flawlessly, better and faster than any painter in history. A photograph is so perfect that is accepted as reality, and as a consequence, as a moment in time. Painting is not perfect because it is a representation through some else's hands. It is not believed to be real, therefore not even the most realistic painting is able of capturing time. Instead, it is capable of capturing a perpetual moment. When a portrait is painted on a canvas and the viewer is almost able to feel the breath of the model, the painting has reached its supreme level of reality, enclosing its viewers into an inescapable sense of timelessness. |
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Blanco not only signifies the Spanish word for 'white', or the symbol of purity among many cultures, Blanco is also one of my family names. After leaving my home country at the age of 19, my father wrote me an unforgettable letter for me to read during my travels. He explained that from that moment onwards, in every place I would visit, I would become a Spanish ambassador. He clarified that being an immigrant is a challenging and special position, facing personal structural challenges, and what is most important, everyone would associate with your country. Blanco is colorless to me, instead it is my root, my culture, and most important, my identity. |
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The paintings in this exhibition represent the different projects I have been focusing on for the past years, Living in El Norte and Faded Glory among them. I usually tend to immerse myself on a single contemporary issue for approximately two years, exploring the subject, depicting different points of views, while letting the different media express itself. Living in El Norte dealt with illegal immigration in the US. Faded Glory explored the many different and paradoxical representations of the American flag.
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The Xirivell series of photographs series represent the soil and landscape that I grew up with. I have always been fascinated with ruins and abandoned places seen across Spain. I have walked and run the Xirivell, the trail that connect all these forgotten places including my parent's house, countless times. The remains and textures of these walls are full of stories from the past, like human prints never told. |
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