The exhibition of the Andalusian artist opened on March 11 with the presence of the artist, at Legacy Fine Arts, Panama City
By: Esther M. Arjona
Ismael Lagares presents at Legacy Fine Arts a work that has significant changes with respect to his previous work. All the pieces included in the exhibition have been made in 2024, and include works from his latest production, whose main feature is that he has abandoned ceramics to turn completely to painting.
Most of his production is made on large-format canvases on which he applies dense impasto of oil and handmade ceramics in striking three-dimensional compositions. His work is not only loaded in color but in texture. It combines collage and graffiti with great freedom, but without ceasing to contemplate a result with harmonious compositions.
His way of working has a certain method, although at first glance it does not resemble it. "First take the brushes to propose a chromatic base that supports the structure. Then, with spatulas and cardboard, distribute the pigment in a few sessions. Absorbed, he is concerned with maintaining an internal coherence while continuing to experiment, now in a more spontaneous way because he does not have to be attentive to the way in which the clay pieces are placed. By not having to include anything other than paint, the process is more fluid, it is a matter of knowing how to drive with empathy and active tension," details the exhibition catalogue.
Ismael Lagares is, today, one of the Spanish artists of his generation with the greatest international projection. Of him, the vice-president of the Thyssen Bornemisza Foundation, a holder of works by Lagares in its collection, has said that "Lagares does not paint only with colour; He paints with character, with intensity, with a courage that goes beyond the surface of the canvas. His work is a celebration of movement and matter, where every brushstroke, every gesture, is a testimony of his unmistakable artistic identity. Texture takes center stage, creating a sensory experience that is not only seen, but felt."
Photos: Legacy Fine Arts