Sebastián Silva’s mode of painting is quick-witted and rhythmic, referencing the illustrative style and subject matter of children’s cartoons, then filtering this dialect through the lens of abstraction. With striking forms that pop outward against dark outlines, Silva’s intricate symbols propel themselves from the canvas as if yearning to join the space of the viewer. Rendered in rippling tones, the artist’s vibrant greens, scarlets, and aquamarines call out to onlookers—encouraging an observant spectator’s gaze to dance across the composition, all at once ingesting the work’s aura.
Uncoupling character from narrative, Silva employs sketched figures, from sources such as Disney movies, suspended in the act of dissolving or coming apart as they float across each canvas’s burst of tonality. The iconography that has long been socially imbued into these simple lines—a circle becomes Goofy’s nose, a concentric circle his eye—retains its nostalgic power.
A couple, more reticent, characters in Silva’s paintings are his color palette and the distinct conditions of his studio. For each work, the artist has carefully chosen a grouping of hues that best evoke the spirit of the composition—from active and lively to calm and introspective. With some of his forms comprised entirely of block colors, the artist evokes subjective, psychological associations in the viewer as well as referencing moments in art history such as the pinks of Philip Guston. The large scale of Silva’s canvases—uniquely enabled by his expansive, outdoor studio—prompt immersive examination. Careful scans of each work’s surface will reveal mementos from the moment of its creation such as bits of natural material or delicate impressions left by the sunlight.
His work is represented in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the Helmut Marko Hotels Collection, Austria, among others. He is a highly celebrated filmmaker, receiving awards such as the Best American Director, Champs-Élysées Film Festival; the Teddy Award, Berlin International Film Festival, Best Feature Film; the Sundance Festival Directing Award, World Cinema, Dramatic; the Sundance Festival, Sundance Grand Jury Prize; and the Pedro Sienna Awards, Best Film.
[excerpted from BLUM website: www.blum-gallery.com]