Le vertueuse virtuosité de peindre

The virtuous virtuosity of painting What you see are paintings. Look even closer! Look for the brushstroke…you won’t find it. Welcome to the hyper-real world of Lorenzo Fernández.

On a wooden shelf, composed of three main vertical compartments, each corresponding to a color of the French flag painted in the background, are placed some outdated objects, also perfectly painted. Yes, also perfectly painted. The small propeller located at the top right, the letter “g” from printing on which rests the miniature of an old French plane, and even the sepia-cut photograph of an agent pointing his gun straight ahead, were all done with a fine brush on a wooden panel, without a preparatory sketch, without the aid of photography Hard to believe, isn’t it?

THE ART OF PRECISION

This painting, measuring around two meters, is the work of the photographic eye and the prodigious hand of the painter Lorenzo Fernández. This young artist from Madrid embodies a Parrhasios of modern times, deceiving any Zeuxis concerned with competing with reality . The precision is so meticulous that it becomes suspicious. The touch is smooth and polished, imperceptible, not suggesting the passage of the tool or even the subtle deposit of oil and acrylic Up close to the painting, it is possible to distinguish details as minute as the regularity of skin texture, the fine seam of a garment, or the granulated texture of paper The achievement is all the more astonishing as it was done on wood, a material with rough surfaces, revealing how conscientious the preparatory phase was to achieve this result.

THE PAINTED PHILOSOPHY

Faced with Lorenzo Fernández’s paintings, how can one not become aware of the hours of work required to accomplish such a feat? The result is not only the product of unquestionable talent in the art of painting but also, and perhaps more importantly, of a measured, thoughtful, persevering, patient, delicate, and other abilities that are not innate but must be acquired.

These qualities are of the order of virtue in the philosophical sense of the term, a notion doubly evident in Lorenzo Fernández: as an aspiration to be and as an aspiration to paint. . One is present, the other is represented. The objects in these paintings embody allegories of virtue, four according to Plato in “The Republic,” namely Prudence, Courage, Temperance, and Justice.

THE DECEPTION OF THE PAST

In a silent universe, where everything is still and frozen, the trinkets, utensils, and tools seem to have belonged to another time and provoke questions. Is there a connection between them? What is it, and why? The marks of time alter their former splendor, rusting the metals and yellowing the photos. Nostalgia awakens, flooding the monastic atmosphere with its melancholic mood, completing the conclusion of “it was better before,” the oldest and most insidious friend of melancholy.

And yet, interpreting Lorenzo Fernández’s painting in this way is certainly a beautiful mistake. On the contrary, the artist seems to play with reality, with our reality, by rivaling it. Isn’t every representation deceptive? Are these objects to which one can easily attribute honorable, virtuous legitimacy because they are associated with the past, nothing more than deceits? Isn’t true virtue rather the awareness of this deception, showing reflection and prudence?

This observation resonates with the obsessions of our society, blinded by the desire to look back, to find the illusory “good morals” of our grandparents, to rebuild instead of construct, to the point of forgetting to project forward.

This view expressed here is entirely personal, subjectively interpreted, though objective from its point of view. It is up to each individual to mature their thoughts, take the time to shape them, awaken their critical thinking, or simply be amazed by the virtuosity of Lorenzo Fernández.”

“Anne-Laure Peressin”

Galeries & Musées. n. 79 (novembre / décembre 2016)