Notes on growing up (regarding Adrian Jurado’s paintings)
By Nathalie Sédou
Art Historian, University of Lille, France.
Adrian Jurado spontaneously decided to paint “big”. While studying in the San Carlos Academy,and in La Esmeralda (Mexico), and admitting his great interest in Mexican muralists, he soon decided to locate himself on the side of those who see painting as an expression of their relationship with the world, and as a means to protest against the system. He deliberately chose monumental painting and from a very young age participated in the creation of several murals requested by Mexican public institutions. In 1993, he was invited by the Belgian committee of Europalia Mexico to paint a mural painting and visit this European country, he decided then to took a course on monumental painting in the Fine Arts Academy in Brussels.
His first paintings, in a constant search for substance, show bodies located in a barely defined space. These paintings subscribe to a world of symbols and allegories and describe the ills caused by intolerance, war, and the weight of history. The sickly and emaciated protagonists twist and turn until they fall apart – even the curves on these hurt bodies look rough. The painter communicates through his figures’ hands: mutilated, charred, or even threatening, by turning them into a symbol not of authority but of pain, rejection, and self preservation. The visceral portrayal of the bodies, which surprises us at first glance, refers indirectly to real suffering and destruction – the pain caused by the gas explosion in San Juanico and the earthquake that violently shook Mexico’s capital in 1985.
Spectrum…
In 1996, he receives an invitation to participate in Rostock’s international workshop entitled “Seinsichten aus welten”, where artists of diverse backgrounds have a chance to converge. Here is where he first shows the world his “Spectrum” series, which constitutes a decisive moment in his career. Spectrum is made up of several medium-sized acrylic canvases, and within them he offers a new representation of bodies and figures (no flesh is represented) by introducing elements through the collage technique. Within each image, once the surroundings and the composition have been established, he insinuates silhouettes and prepares the stage for the scene’s action. In his final work phase, the objects and signs he adds give sense to a message that becomes ironic and almost enigmatic...
As a result of his narrative qualities and by constantly evoking the ellipsis as a central element, he is able to express that something is about to happen or that it occurred only a moment ago. The spectator has arrived either too early or too late and, as the situation has not been fully explained, he/she might decide to infer, to imagine or to complete the scenario. This universe of imagery is mainly articulated within the following two axes:
Firstly, Adrian tends to describe scenes involving domination or situations imposed upon by force, all of which cause a tense or violent reaction, and where the author directly questions authority (Class of 94, and The Last Supper).
Secondly, he analyzes everyday situations head on and from a sordid and stifling point of view (The last Drink and then we Leave and Till Death Do Us Part) – including the elements he has added with his collages – to denounce humanity’s dehumanized consumerism (Until merchandise runs out and The Latest Fashion).
Adrian recreates a very particular “geography”, as he combines both of the abovementioned axes and therefore, exposes the effects of domination on everyday life, with its social, human, economic and sexual implications.
Time…
The biggest development in his work comes from the way he handles the “representation” of time. Before this, his enthusiastic efforts towards vindicating the notion of public art and the need to cover a vast space had kept Adrian closely tied to mural painting: time within a historical context. The artist would locate his main characters within specific events, and put them through the torments of history by referring to specific eras: Pre-Hispanic and conquered America, United States’ domination of Mexico, the Gulf War...
With the Spectrum series, he developed a new register of time – as an expression of time’s duration. He recreated the sensation of time – either by stretching or compressing it – used mental resources – reminiscing and evoking the dead – and focused on the feeling of being worn out and exhausted, while searching for different ways to translate this into signs that wouldn’t elude the spectator’s attention: the disaggregation of matter, rusting objects, desolate settings, abandoned objects, cobwebs, and ruins. In order to obtain the desired effect, he played with substance itself: in Opposite Senses, for example, he referred to the ancient polyptic structure with a golden background, and tried to recreate the appearance of worn down varnish.
He also used – in a less conscious manner – elements from cinematic language such as sequence and ellipsis, travelling, wide-angle takes and “close-ups”...This is probably why he presents each situation so clearly, and not only reveals drama but also gives it new meaning, provokes the observer, awakens the viewer’s curiosity and even produces feelings of discomfort or laughter...That is particularly true in Till Death Do Us Part as well as in The Last Drink and then we Leave, as the effect of both these paintings relies on its sequences and details. In the case of Until Merchandise Runs Out (with a climax that reminds us of Hollywood cinema), Adrian presents a very open scene, like a wide-angle look that allows us to capture the entire scope of the situation. These three paintings, as well as the Rosee mural, must be absorbed by means of a “lateral movement”, as we would do when reading a book, being that we need to start in one specific point to reach the next significant location.
Adrian has been able to translate many cinematic elements into painting – mainly components of space and time. He has achieved this by successfully distributing on canvas the story’s elements and narration. The paintings’ main characters seem to be petrified by the sheer weight of the circumstances, while the spectator – unconsciously aware of the presence of cinematic language – feels as though he/she has stumbled upon the painting in the height of drama and therefore, recognizes the existing ellipsis. Several elements of cinematic language are present here: a synthesized structure, a long stretch of time expressed in an instant, and flashbacks. Another significant detail is the format of each painting, very close to cinematic dimensions (such as the formerly employed 1.37 format and the American 1.85 present in Until Merchandise Runs Out). I was not that surprised to learn after the fact that Adrian spent many years as a child sitting in the movie theater where his grandfather worked projecting films. The unique relationship between his paintings and film didn’t simply happen as a coincidence...
Towards public art…
Time has made Adrian reflect again on public art as an attempt to assimilate collective memory within the cities’ common spaces. He has distanced himself from some of the original objectives of mural art and therefore, has proven that he wants to approach this art with a less literal and academic eye. However, he considers his work a social endeavor that aims at producing a positive relationship between cities and inhabitants. Adrian directly appeals to his audience in order for it to identify and react to each artistic proposal. He is well aware of how important the context in which he constructs his work is, as well as the events and the main characters that he places on each canvas.
Stroking memories
Adrian’s artistic process involves perceiving and reconstructing places. That is how he takes ownership of specific walls and buildings – his images won’t just be “applied” to these walls, the images will actually be based on what has gone on in and behind them, thanks to the discovery of shapes, patterns, traits and forms...This requires rigorously analyzing where he will develop his next representation. An abandoned wall or square may actually be a rich source of inspiration without this meaning that a complete “makeover” is necessary or that obsolete objects must be changed by new ones. He examines the city as an urban landscape filled with footprints and history and promotes a process where spectators not only observe but actually recognize themselves in these images. This process needs not to hide the signs of deterioration, what it requires is to give the weathered walls a new meaning (without forgetting the original purpose of each location) by accentuating or corrupting the decay, by renouncing to cover the walls entirely with paint and by opening each space to the effect of time and the elements.
Contemporary archeology
The concept of public art is understood as an alternative to the city’s growing process of uniformity and standardization. Adrian Jurado follows a process that combines the city’s history – common and recent – with ancient history, made up of accumulated eras. The artist’s expression and inspiration comes from the city’s and its inhabitants’ unusual and unique characteristics and from the fact that “public art is by definition an art involving context and collaboration”, where the artist’s job (intrinsically related to each neighborhood) is to defend “its human dimension and to create a window to the city’s collective imagination”. *
Nathalie Sédou
Art Historian, University of Lille, France.
Traduction : Adriana Quiroz
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