Mexico-born, Dallas-based Francisco Moreno began his Slates project with the simple guideline that all pieces must be in a format of 48×36 inches with 5.5-inch radius curved corners. Within the project, Moreno works on a number of series that explore a variety of materials, techniques, and art historical references. To make his Scribble paintings, Moreno painstakingly “scribbles” delicate paint lines into each section of a geometric composition. Moreno believes that even a scribble, like handwriting, possesses an idiosyncratic quality unique to each individual. The result is a vibrating surface tension where hard-edged shapes are juxtaposed with gestural, soft-focus paint application.
SLATE: Scribble Painting (Brilliance) was inspired, in part, by Harry Winston’s Global Partnership with amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and the Countdown to a Cure initiative which aims to develop the scientific basis for a cure for HIV by 2020. TWO x TWO gave Moreno a number of inspirational words which characterize Harry Winston and its support of amfAR’s Countdown to a Cure initiative. Moreno’s task was to think about the words and what they meant to him, and to convey one/all the words artistically in his own way. In the end, he chose “brilliance,” a theme echoed in the dynamic composition of angular shapes, conjuring a faceted surface reflecting light. Speaking about the work, Moreno says:
In SLATE: Scribble Painting (Brilliance), I researched the levels of clarity grades in diamonds and became interested in the idea that less color increases quality. For this painting, I limited the palette to white, gray, black, and the natural tone of the canvas, which can be seen subtly through the porous effect of the scribbled planes. This particular composition is based off of abstracting strategies I utilized in The WCD (Washington Crossing the Delaware) Project combined with the visual effect of overlapping planes created when one looks through a diamond.