RENATO CHACÓN, MÉXICO
Renato Chacon is a Mexican artist known for his expressive brushwork and abstract-figurative compositions. His work includes depictions of cityscapes and scenes of daily life, marked by a distinctive sense of structure, rhythm, and contrast.
Chacón’s practice includes figurative compositions as well as more abstract representations, in which loose, expressive marks and non-realist forms suggest environments rather than define them. His paintings often reflect his interest in the dynamics of city life, shaped by his background in architecture and his habit of walking through urban spaces. These experiences translate into artworks that evoke both structural rhythm and emotional spontaneity.
The artist notes that his use of color has been significantly influenced by his time in Yucatán, where the intensity of natural light altered his perception and palette. Painting is, for him, a means to process experience and imagine new realities: a space where undefined forms evolve intuitively into compositions that reflect his inner state.
Though trained as an architect, Chacón considers painting to be a liberating and instinctive practice. He works primarily in solitude, favoring the privacy of the studio to develop ideas drawn from memory, observation, and imagination.
In his own words:
“Painting calms me down. It helps me rest my mind from daily worries. I forget about the violence in the streets and the human beings that generate it. Then I turn it into images of peace and color, with the idea in mind of a better society. Many times they are not planned images; they arise from a need for an imaginary space that allows me to be and do what I want. Undefined shapes and colors appear and transform during the process until something familiar emerges that reflects my state of mind. That process can repeat endlessly—until, suddenly, it’s done, and calmness appears, sometimes even a kind of satisfaction.”
“I like working in my studio, alone. I enjoy walking in the city and observing people anonymously. Those impressions return later, reappearing on the canvas when I least expect them. I do not follow rules or norms for painting. This activity represents for me a liberation of the spirit—a sense of power within the space of a canvas, a sheet of paper, or a wooden board. On those surfaces, I enjoy spreading, mixing, and combining colors, doing whatever I want without affecting anyone.”
Click here to read about Renato’s, recent exhibition Group Portraits
Group Portraits Exhibition.
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.
