As in art, the focus we give to certain things or situations is what makes them more or less important. Looking closely at certain aspects can bring out details that would otherwise go unnoticed.
When I go to an art show, I like to look closely at the paintings, notice the brushstrokes, the strokes, not all artists paint in the same way. Some paint so realistically that you practically don't notice that they are paintings and they look more like a photograph.
In other cases the painters use or do what is called impasto, that is to say, they use a lot of paint, and this is especially noticeable in oil painting. You can see the volume and texture of the paint, as well as the brightness of the colour and the relief it creates.
Many of the artists are even known by the way they paint, which in fact generates a style and even an epoch in history.
Looking closely at a canvas can make you see details of light and shadow that make something look like it is coming out of a painting, although in reality this perception occurs mostly when you take a distance, like when we take a distance from a situation in life to change perspective. It is a matter of perspective. But the proximity gives us an awareness of the details that generate this effect.
Details of looks, hands, folds of drapery, how hair is painted... I remember that I always liked painting hair and its different shades.
In landscape paintings there are so many styles, for example, of painting rocks, trees and every detail counts, as in life.
And there are some canvases in which the proximity can even reveal a story that takes place between the characters, as if it were a film. As in this case where this particular painting shows a family defending themselves against wild animals in the middle of the snow. It tells a story.
Looking closely can make us see expressions of faces that from a distance we cannot appreciate well, and there is a story there too. From afar we see a woman looking out of a window at a scene, but up close we see the pain in her eyes, she is involved in the story.
Details always count in life, knowing in which direction the eyes are looking, the gestures of the hands, the face and the details of the painting, the white spaces, the places where the colour is highlighted. Everything has a parallel with life.
And not only in the paintings, but the sculpture has a lot to say as well. The details I show below, all belong to a large wooden door, but here I bring it broken down into parts to see its details.
To give you an example, when I saw the door from a distance I didn't notice that there was a keyhole in the mouth.
The proximity makes us get in touch with the details of the way with each moulding, with each carving. I admire the work done in wood, I always find it marvellous, extraordinary and admirable. Art manifested in various forms.
Life, as in art, is full of details, often small details, but when you look at them closely, they make you understand many things and take a different view of a situation, a change of perspective. Details that often go unnoticed but are there for a reason.
Details of things, details that people have with us, details... all valuable. And I'm talking about the positive details. There are also the others, but that's not the purpose of this post, but to look at those beautiful little things that make a difference.
These photographs belong to an art exhibition called Ciudad del Paraíso (City of Paradise) by the artist, the magnificent painter, Antonio Muñoz Degrain. This art exhibition was on display until a few days ago in the Palacio de la Aduana in the city of Malaga. Exquisite and beautiful art exhibition.
Thank you all very much for reading and viewing this far. I wish you all a very good Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
