RENATO CHACÓN, MÉXICO
Renato Chacón is an expressionist painter born in México City in 1965. He defines himself as self taught; however his training includes studies at the Instituto de Bellas Artes de San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in New York City.
Renato presents scenes of daily life as well as dreamlike landscapes. He depicts human figures with long, loose brushstrokes, barely suggesting them, often presenting them in groups that describe cultural aspects or traditions. In his palette the contrast between primary and warm colors predominates, generating intensity and luminosity.
The themes and colors of his work have changed significantly in Merida, because as he says, “the intensity of the sunlight in Yucatan is very strong”.
In addition to being an artist, Renato is an accomplished architect. Both professions have balanced his work and have complemented each other.
His passion for touring cities, observing their architecture, colors and inhabitants, is reflected in the themes of his work. He interprets the life he sees, with a marked style of expressive brushstrokes, which for him relaxes and balances the strict discipline of architecture.
In his own words:
“Painting calms me down. It helps me rest my mind from the constant daily worries, necessary or not. I forget about the violence in the streets and the human beings that generate it. Then I turn it into images of peace, of color, with the idea in mind of a better society. Many times they are not meditated images; they arise from the need for an imaginary space that allows me to be and do what I want. Then undefined shapes and colors appear that transform themselves in the process until I find something known that reflects my state of mind on that day. That process can be repeated indefinitely in an apparent endlessness, until suddenly, that’s it, my mind decides that it is over, and thus calmness arises and sometimes a kind of complacency.”
“I like working in my studio, alone. I don’t feel comfortable working outdoors with other people around, but I like going out and walking in the city and observing people in my anonymity. That generates ideas in my mind that at the time, in the solitude of the studio, will return and appear on the canvas when I no longer even remember them. I do not accept the rules or norms for painting. Rather, this activity represents for me a liberation of the spirit and a feeling of power in the small space contained on a canvas or on a sheet of paper or on a wooden board. On those surfaces I enjoy spreading the colors, smearing them, combining them, mixing them for instance, doing whatever I want with them without affecting anyone”
Click here to read about Renato’s, recent exhibition Group Portraits
Group Portraits.
The appreciation of and desire for portraiture has existed since cameras were invented. People who had the opportunity went to the studio of a photographer to take a portrait, alone or often accompanied by a relative, the entire family or with friends.
Over time, in addition to family portraits, it became common to photograph groups of students finishing a school year, or co-workers at one’s job. People dressed in their finest clothes and appeared serious, often staring directly at the camera. The photographer accommodated them, shooting the subjects either sitting, standing, or perhaps with a combination of the two, to achieve a more fortunate composition.
Eventually, as the possibility of acquiring a camera became more and more common, portrait photography evolved, until today, when practically anyone can take their own “selfie” with their phone.
“Group Portraits” is a body of paintings on different surfaces that aims to remember with a bit of humor those groups of family or friends who took advantage of any meeting to take a group portrait. Some represent smiles or serious expressions; others accommodate a leg forward or to the side; others show hugs as well as gesturing and the provoking of others.
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