Paz Corona — Más sol que sombra — Les filles du calvaire Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: May 17 → June 17, 2017

On the occasion of her third exhibition at the Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, French-Chilean artist Paz Corona presents a series of brushed canvases: portraits and bodies as vibrant as their style is genuine. Through this new corpus of paintings and drawings, she continues her formal research around the theme of identity while methodically exploring the possibilities of portrait.

Paz Corona, Eros 2, 2016 Charcoal and chalk on paper Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris

Here, the artist exhibits vague portraits and fragmentary bodies. She has no fear for the non finito, but instead likes to play with unfinished effects. Her painting is mostly about mental projections and associations. When in front of her canvas, Corona lets her hand wander and follows the train of her “uncontrollable” thoughts, as she describes them. Distant or fixe gazes constitute the characteristic and intimate off-camera style of the painter, reminiscent of Michel Angelo aerial presence or the history of painting itself with the implicit reference to Berthe Morisot. After laying the foundation of a face, the act of painting alone decides in which direction the portrait will evolve, with its share of remorse but also certainties from the artist’s hand.

Paz Corona, NERÓ 2, 2016 Oil on canvas Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris

The painter operates exactly as our mind does: through association of ideas, memories, dreams and sometimes feeling of rejection. Bathed in a mental and fictitious light, the carnation of her silhouettes is made out of the canvas’ fabric, in shades of grey, red and blue. To probe the identity of her models, she sorts out forms and details, gets rid of the superfluous and applies vigorous yet refined brushstrokes to make them stand out from the background. On a closer look, one surprisingly discovers that the apparent roughness of her touch leaves room to a delicate treatment, patiently built up through the accumulation of layers and glazing. Paz Corona employs the same process for all her pierces but under deliberately varied forms. Whether for large portraits or sleek bodies painted on the raw linen of the canvas, the artist’s hand speaks the same tongue. When combining different ways to represent faces, Corona seeks the right balance of forms. It shows no indecision but a discernment that gives us the opportunity to see and understand her gesture.

_“Sketches frequently have a fire that the finished paintings lack; they’re the moment of the artist’s zeal, his pure verve, undiluted by any carefully considered preparation, they’re the painter’s soul freely transferred to canvas.¹” _

Paz Corona, NERÓ 3, 2016 Oil on canvas Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire, Paris

This selection of drawings and portraits is the result of a research conducted on the various “states of painting”. It reveals a non-linear artistic process both in the conception of the painting and its protocol of execution. “Where is the border beyond which a self ceases to be a self?” asked Kundera in front of Bacon’s portraits. Even though Paz Corona does not give in to the radical distortion of her figures, she casts doubts on their true personality and clouds interpretations. Whether real or imaginary, her models’ facial expression is diffuse just like thoughts. The artist’s intentions undoubtedly go beyond mere resemblance, even for self-portraits. Since “I is another”, Paz Corona revisits the relationship between identity and alterity through putting bits of herself and others in her canvas.

Sébastien Borderie

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¹ Diderot, Salon of 1765.