M.A.D. GALLERY MILANO
Presenta
CATARINA RODRIGUES DE ALMEIDA Art Directors: Alessandra Magni & Carlo Greco
Catarina Rodrigues de Almeida is a Portuguese painter, was born the 8 June of 1983, she is formed by autodidact. Her passion for art is born since childhood, she is encouraged by her uncle painter, Fernando Rodrigues, that teaches her some techniques and he will be a point of reference for her. Her way of painting is particular: using the acrylic, she realizes works with lighted and intense colors, like green, red, violet, blue. Often the color are employed in no realistic way in the backgrounds. Besides it is just the colors of the background that creates a strange effect: seems to wind the figures and the objects represented, almost until to make them disappear. It is important to analyze the subjects represented in her works: she often portrays famous characters, represented in central position and surrounded by a colored background, or painted in different poses; in a lot of other works, where the scene is populated numerous figures, are painted anonymous people, characterized by indistinct faces and realized with an alone stain of pink color, without eyes, nose, mouth and ears. In her cloths she has wanted to express her own Portuguese origins and to transmit to the spectator the most typical traditions and characteristics, like: the fishermen at work, because Portugal since Four Hundred has been a great maritime power; the fado, that is the national popular song and he is accompanied by the guitar and the viola, it is a very melancholy musical kind that evokes a state of mood native of the Portuguese culture that is the saudade, which emerges in a lot of works of the painter; simple suits, dominated by the red and the black, in particular appears more times a triangular shawl with filaments. Another aspect that emerges from these works, besides a feeling of melancholy more evident in the portraits of the famous characters, it is the joy to work and to celebrate together. The artist tries to represent on cloth all of this through the warm colors of her country of origin. In front of the works of Catarina Rodrigues, the spectator is overwhelmed by strong emotions that the works arouse him and they bring him in a dimension out of the time. “Lisbon by night”: the intent of artist is that to concentrate the attention of the spectator on the scene in the foreground, that is the popular song of a woman flanked by a musician that he plays the guitar. To succeed in her intent, Catarina Rodrigues paints in approximate way and with fast and very colored brushstrokes the walls of the place where the scene is set, but also the same people that assist to the musical show since they come partly cancelled by the color. The spectator feels a part of an enveloping atmosphere. He has the sensation of being in a strange space, where the time has stopped and he can only listen the song of woman. Lisbon by night
“Pescadores”: work that recovers one of the themes more times faced by the artist: the fishermen, which seem to be caught secretly while they are working. What is noticed it is the devotion and the commitment that put in their job. However the feeling that returns this work is that it doesn’t deal a job, but a passion, the passion of the sea and his creatures. One of these are in the foreground, a great gull, that gives the impression of wanting to show off and to assume the role of protagonist of the cloth. In this work sky and sea are confused and they seem to unite in an only substance. Everything this arouses a great feeling of liberty and freshness, as if the sea and the sky together could go out of the cloth and to overpower the spectator. Pescadores
“Charlie Chaplin”: restlessness and sadness are the feelings that it arouse this work, the look of english actor is empty, he seems to be away from the real time and closed in his imagination. His figure seems to be cancelled by the intensity of that color that go to compose the background of the work. Very strong colors that also find again on his face and that they are stretched with a frenetic and fast brushstroke that recalls the internal torment of the character.
Charlie Chaplin
“Fado”: bright and lively work, realized with warm and delicate colors, where the characters are realistically represented in the foreground, while those in second foreground are realized in approximate way and not defined. The work transmits the importance of the Portuguese popular song, the fado, intoned by a young woman to the center of the scene. Her expression makes to emerge the commitment and the passion that she feeds toward this song. All this arouse in the spectator a desire of attachment to own country and above all to own popular traditions. The atmosphere that dominates the scene is that of joy and lightheartedness, evoked, over that from the song, also from the sweet musical accompaniment.
Fado
“Frida Kahlo”: solemn and authoritative is the pose of the Mexican painter, painted to the center of a blue background surrounded by flowers. Her look is turned to a point in distance outside the cloth and seem to want to reach it, in spite of is immovable. In fact that strikes is her determination that succeeds in evoking with the only magnetic eyes. Her clothes is typical of her country and returns to the exotic, as well the parrot. What tries to transmit the artist is the importance to express if same and own origins.
Frida Kahlo
“Fernando Pessoa”: work that stands out from the others, because here the Portuguese artist is painted four times with four different expressions that returns a different feeling: perplexity, amazement, discouragement, sadness. All this, in an only cloth, creates a sense of anxiety and torment in the spectator, that it is accentuated by the very free use and not realistic of the colors, which is one of the dominant elements of the work. Fernando Pessoa
“Chico pescador”: confusion is what it comes to mind looking this work, which represents the anonymous figure of a fisherman to the center of the scene. The whole of fish at his shoulders is unreal, returns to his desire to pick up all that fishes, in contrast with the reality, as shows the empty bucket in front of him. The face of the fisherman is partly covered by the hat, however is seen his desolation and discouragement in not to succeed in capturing the food for his own family.
Chico pescador
“Toronto”: work that distinguishes in the artistic productions of Catarina Rodrigues, this because, unlike the others, is represented the Canadian city of Toronto, with own skyscrapers and the CN (Canadian National Tower). All this is represented in simplified way and with colors lighted that they are stretched with not carelessness, also out of the contours of the figures. Looking this cloth, the spectator is induced to visit the city and to see to own eyes the intensity of the colors whit which the artist has painted the buildings.
Toronto
Art Curator: Joelle Gilardoni