Mar (2008 | Oil on canvas | 150 x 180 cm)
Mãe (2008 | Óleo sobre tela | 100 x 180 cm)
Amor (2008 | Oil on canvas | 150 x 180 cm)
Espera (2008 | Oil on canvas | 150 x 180 cm)
Afonso Tostes
From Jul 25 to Aug 30 2008
Nossos springs from Afonso Tostes' drawings of people close to him, "something intimate". "I've always made drawings, but I was fully absorbed with the sculptures," he says. The drawings, however, were always present in the projects that preceded the completion of his works. For him, these drawings are very "intimate", as these were never exhibited before.
"The drawing/painting then gained an unexpected autonomy. I started to draw directly on the canvas with the paint tube", he explains. Another material used by Tostes was the pencil. He points out that this work is "very straightforward": "When I begin, I have to the end it, and this is physically exhausting." In pursuing the ideal design, the pencil residues and ink are like stains, where the painting "gains density from the errors". For him, the work, "is on the border between drawing and painting."
The line is a key element to his work, with a blunt expressive charge, and here it resembles the ones used in tattoos. Only defining contours, Tostes eliminates the "personhood and identity" of figures, integrating them into the atmosphere of the painting. "The result is left to the observer, who gives their creative input with his/her personal interpretation."
Afonso Tostes used photography as a base for his drawings, although it is the first time he uses figures so clearly.