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| Bollywood #14, oil on linen 120×80 cm 2014 |
An Interview with Enrique Collar.
Who and where are you from?
I was born in the countryside of Paraguay, I grew up in Buenos Aires and I live and work in Rotterdam since 2003. I am a visual artist and a film director.
How you got into this?
Painting caught me from the first moment I discovered it. As a child I studied comic strips which came by mail. As a teenager I worked in printing companies. The reproduction, the ink, the papers and the needed recovery of my first years of life in the field of Paraguay, pushed me towards the art.
I came in the world of cinema because of painting. During the last decade of the twentieth century, I drew and painted intensely Paraguay, My work was created within the Latin American cultural context, with myths and realities. This work became very important for the Visual Arts of my country, and that I developed this without being aware of this.
When I came to Holland, I decided to close this period and start another. I was always a figurative artist, although I allowed myself to explore various currents of art history, which I interpret in a “nonlinear way". In this new stage, (which you can see in the photographs) I introduced my painting to the visual qualities that were appearing in this digital life. I chose to concentrate on the pictorial act of the details; the light and the forms. As I changed cameras, my paintings varied. In other words; I did the opposite of my Latin American period, where I prioritized the language of space, composition and narrative. But slowly, from large portraits I’m going back to the concepts of space, but now from a different perspective. I believe in the process of visual thinking and how this modifies our vision.
What is your driving force?
The history of art, the art of painting and for past few years the fascination for the new visual tools that Technology can give us. Putting technology together with the tradition of 500 years painting makes me enthousiastic. One of my latest projects is: Universal Painting Project 360° VR, paintings in 360 degrees, which can already be seen on my website, but the originals will be part of an upcoming exhibition in Rotterdam.
What kind of work you do and why?
I have always been fascinated by the representation of reality in a flat world through pictorial language. In three decades of artwork, my perception changed over multiple periods. I also added the language of cinema, narrative in time and script writing in what paintings mean to me. Teamwork with technicians from different disciplines and actors was an important human experience. Thanks to the cinema I could incorporate the concept of 360 degrees in my paintings, and this makes me excited.
Please tell us more about your thought process.
When I started, I drew from a direct model and then painted these drawings. Then I experimented with analog photography, and collages. Later photoshop, screens, tablets, and video Stills. I do not have a unique methodology of work. It depends a lot on the project type and sometimes the mood.
The art of painting is for me the most essential language where I concentrate my emotions, my ideas and the real time that I live with every work. This process can take me up to several weeks. It is difficult to maintain a work routine or draw accurately on the canvas what I’m going to paint. I need the stain, the gesture, the error, different techniques. I need the layers of paint that, although they may disappear at first sight, they remain there under what we see, as a heart secretly beating. To sum up my sensitivity towards pictorial language; I am interested both in the art of Willem de Kooning as well as in the art of Lucien Freud, and I have always been deeply excited by Vermeer of Delft.
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| “Primavera” Oil on canvas 150×100 cm, 2015 |
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| “Revanche”, oil on canvas, 70×105 cm, 2015/16 |
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| “Allegory of painting II” oil on canvas 150×100 cm, 2011 | Private collection Paraguay |
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| “Vlinder” (Butterfly) Oil on canvas, 200×135 cm, 2010 | Private collection Milan |
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| “Girl with silvery jacket” oil on canvas 170 x 120 cm, 2012 |
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| “Sibrand” oil on canvas 100×100 cm, 2013 | Private collection, The Netherlands |
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| “Mireille” Oil on jute 200×170 cm, 2006/7 Collection of the artist, The Netherlands |
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| “Girl with freckles” Oil on canvas 200×150 cm, 2009/10 | 1st Prize Figurativa ’10, MEAM museum collection, Barcelona |
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| “Miracle” Oil on canvas, 200×200 cm, 2005 | Private collection, The Netherlands | Selected in the short list of BP Portrait Award 2006, London |
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| “Sunday” Oil on canvas 200×145 cm, 2005 | Collection of the artist, The Netherlands |
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| “Lila” Oil on canvas 200×160 cm, 2008 | Honorary mention prize, Figurativa ’08 MEAM Museum Collection – Barcelona |
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| “The kitchen” Oil on canvas 200×145 cm, 2006 (Inspired by paintings from the collection of Mauritsthuis) Private Collection |
For more of Enrique Collar Check the links below:
Website :- https://collarenrique.com/
Instagram :- https://www.instagram.com/collar.enrique/
Facebook :- https://www.facebook.com/collargallery/
Twitter :- https://twitter.com/EnriqueCollar
All Images are copyright by: Enrique Collar
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