We artists use various forms to express ourselves, we may not like an art form, but it is still art, a way of showing emotions and ways of thinking.
Caricatures have been used in history in various ways and many of them have been used to enhance certain forms of something, for example, of a certain reality.
In this case the artist Matías Sánchez in a large exhibition at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, shows a way of seeing the reality that surrounds him in more than sixty works that he began to paint, back in the year 2000 up to the present.
Works with that caricature style, often grotesque, to enhance certain forms, faces, attitudes.
Going through this exhibition, my first sensation was of seeing something strange that I didn't quite understand, as if the artist had a strange vision, but as I progressed through the exhibition my opinion changed.
It is true that caricatures, especially this one, are not my forte, but I began to pay attention to the details of each canvas.
Huge canvases with a lot of colour and impasto, the artist didn't skimp on the use of colour, I think he wanted those details to show very well.
Many of the paintings had his name painted on them, as if to emphasise what he wanted to spread or for people to see reality as he sees it. Remember that he started with these paintings around the year 2000 and a lot has happened in the last few years, society has changed enormously and the painter has been able to capture those changes.
The paintings have some humour, but it also seems that some sarcasm, it is very natural, spontaneous and makes the viewer if he really looks at the painting can see and see very well things that happen in our society today.
Many, if not all, of the works are full of people, things, details and looking at the expressions, colours, positions, one can appreciate emotions that shock, that impact the eye, such as suffering, pain, anger, madness and much more.
Many icons shown by the painter are repeated over and over again, if you look at each painting you can see them, the features of the people and also in the objects. I was struck by the eyes that express strong things, but also that kind of madness surrounded by an environment that also leads to that.
I see a mixture of caricature with the abstract, with a good knowledge of shapes, proportions and location on the plane.
Many times there seem to be objects that have nothing to do with it, such as bones or eggs, but by observing the surroundings, the reason may be discovered.
I see that the painter depicts sectors within the same society and emotions of the human being, he refers to the consequences of certain attitudes, he talks about anger, punishment, purgatory, people who are rejected.
Two of his paintings are striking, as he shows the last supper in a, let's say, very particular way and on the other hand the final judgement, as a tremendous madness.
A furious and, I repeat, maddened society, with hatred inside, against another society which is the marginalised, the lonely, the excluded.
I must highlight one work or rather two works, one is next to the other and it is not by chance that they were my favourites.
If you look at both paintings they have objects in common, although they are not exactly the same, and not only that, but there is a signpost of numbers as a path to follow and a message to decipher.
That is why I found these paintings appealing, beyond what is painted. It holds a lot of mystery and a great message.
What is in store for society, what does the artist see in it, are perhaps some of the points to think about.
I always like to know what a painter or artist in general wanted to say with his works, we express ourselves through them.
Thank you very much to all of you for coming this far, I wish you a good Sunday, see you next time.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
