Premio Combat Prize

· ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
· ”Self-portrait at 37” (2013)
This series of portraits does not seek to represent the appearance, the external look, but to render the feeling provoked by the physical presence of a person. The personal proximity of someone, its very presence, generates in us an intangible sensation, an immaterial impression that is perceived even out of visual contact, and is precisely this what I want to explore here. In tune with Klee’s ideas, this work does not seek to reproduce the visible, but to ”make visible” something we all perceive, that is palpable and inherent to our human perception, but that escapes in any other representation. In this way, these portraits do not invoke only the look, the external appearance of the other, but the intangible sensations activated by the other’s presence. The visual representation is used here as a vehicle to represent something not visible.
In each of these portraits I try that the presence of the work provokes the same mood as the physical presence of the portrayed, which is as unique and self-recognizable as its external appearance, and at the same time evolves, is as mutable and changing as that. Sustained on this sensitive perception, the presence of the work confronts us directly with the portrayed person on a much deeper and fuller level, not from his appearance or his words, but from his heartbeat, his vital breath, from what we feel when we share his or her space.
In this works we find a marked and recognizable influence from Mark Rothko, whom I consider the most eloquent artist of the 20th century. However, the similarity is limited to a mere aspectual level. In this works I am not interested in rendering the sublime, the universal, the tragedy, the ecstasy, the great revelations of man as he was, but the private, the intimate in the person. In this works the portrait gets released from its link with figuration, which seemed ”its miserable reserved domain ”, in Deleuze’s words, but, unlike abstract painting, here remains na strong commitment with the detail, with the concrete, with the realism, with the representation of one specific person and not any other, seeking an accuracy and ultimately a realism that figuration rarely achieves. I do not wish to remain in the territory of allusion or evocation, but I seek for a reliable and meticulous rendition, defining here a representative context as emancipated from figuration as it is from abstraction.
From this renunciation of figuration, I use lighting as a spacing material structure and its brightness, disposition and color as metaphors of interior light. Colors come into contact with each other and, like our own feelings, they experience conflicts, contrasts, collisions that we can not fully understand. The friction between the luminous masses provokes in their borders electric tensions, effervescent and unexpected color flashes, and it is precisely there, in the frontiers, where the forms overflow violently and reach their maximum expressiveness. The effervescent light of these works experiences subtle chromatic effects, beautiful gradations, soft fades, bright beating flashes and powerful glows that flood and alter all the space around them, just like our pulsating personal impulse. Through these elements the viewer manages to connect with the portrayed person at a much deeper level than through the appearances, and the portrait becomes a more intimate, private, profound and authentic rendition than the face depiction.
These two works are part of a triptych developed along a four years period. Self-portrait at 37 (2013) was made at a time in my life when I was going through great anguish motivated by hard work problems and deep personal worries that vastly affected my confidence, self-esteem and position in the world as a person. In the self-portrait that I did at that time, we can perceive that same insecurity, that anguish, that fragility and inner contraction that I was experiencing at that moment.
Four years later, my personal situation was very different. The family problems was solved, my professional situation got considerably stabilized and I completed a long and hard doctoral work with great recognition. In Self-portrait at 41 (2017) we see that same exultant satisfaction, that bright, expansive and euphoric optimism.
The triptych gets completed with Self-portrait at 39 (2015), a self-reflection made in an intermediate moment of change and in which, without voluntarily seeking it, this transition can be perceived, this evolution of the psychic and emotional plane becomes visible in slow progress towards a state of greater personal fulfillment.
With these portraits I continue my research on the expressive capabilities of light. Like my previous works, these artworks could not be done outside of the digital context, where I have an accurate control of the light and its chromatic qualities that allow me a strict fidelity in what I represent. Instead of starting with a blank canvas, I begin in a black surface, a dark space in which I start a complex and deep process of reflection, exploration and immersion in the portrayed person’s character, essential before proceeding to paint with light his or her philosophical and psychological beat, in order to obtain a representation that could be perceived similar to the person presence itself.
· BIOGRAPHY
Dario Lanza (1975) was born in Ferrol, lives and works in Madrid, Spain.
Fine Arts professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, PnD in Information and Communication Tecnologies, studied Computer Science and Programming at Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] and Postgraduate studies in Computer Graphics from the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid.
After graduating in engineering, started a career in visual arts as commercial designer for high-end advertising agencies and magazines like BBDO, Leo Burnett or El Mundo magazine, winning several awards and recognitions as visual artist. Lecturer and author of a book and papers about the role of computers in the production of contemporary art today, his artworks has been exhibited in galleries across the world including New York, Hong Kong, Madrid and London.
Like many children of my generation, I acquired my first computer in 1984, the iconical ZX Spectrum 48k. Since that very moment, I felt that small device was a powerful creative tool right in my hands.
Today I combine my post as Fine Arts professor with my work as visual artista and researcher.
I’m specially interested in the way digital technology is altering the production of art today, and its potential to define our aesthetic experience and give shape to our digital culture.
In my works I research the unexplored expressive capabilities of the digital media, by creating images that result new and suggestive, while unleash visual associations. My interest is mainly based on both our attitude in front of the images created by the computer, and the attitude of the computer in from of us.
In my particular position as both producer of artwork and involved in the development of software for other creators, I perceive this as a truly momentous for both art and technology realms, and the constant feedback they are now sharing. In my work as render specialist in the development of a render engine, I developed a strong technical understanding of the software and the generation of synthetic images, deep enough to be able to synthesize images that don’t look synthetic at all. In fact, far from resulting artificial, the images result strangely natural and close. To achieve the desired results, I had to develop custom specific rendering procedures, altering the usual way the softwares were designed to work, in order to achieve certain specific aesthetic.
The magnetism of these images refute the stigma of artificial and soulless that is usually associated to computer art. The meticulous elaboration behind each image becomes transparent, the technology finally disappears, and the images leave us alone in front of an emotional observation.