JOSE MARIA CUNDIN

opening reception march 3rd 6 – 9 pm

40 Years Wandering Through the Desert

re t ro spect i ve show

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40 YEARS WANDERING THROUGH THE DESERT

Jose Maria Cundin’s retrospective exhibition includes examples of thediminutive grotesques that populated the artist’s canvases for the firstthirty years of his career and the luminous abstractions to which hehas devoted himself since 1990. As Cundin has said, “The task of theartist is not just to paint but to extrapolate the most extreme stage ofcontemplation.” He goes on to explain that “there comes a momentwhen your tools become a handicap. You have to invent new toolsto express the vision you want to shape. I realized it was almost dishonest to repeat myself in a formula. I was like a lemon with nomore juice. So I decided to explore the territory of formality itself.”

Few mature artists at the peak of successful careers have had thecourage to abandon a celebrated style in order to distill the mysteriesof the visible universe into the simplest-and most profound-questionsof color, light, and form. In all of the paintings included in this show,one can observe the struggle of an artist with his medium, but in thework of the last seventeen years, that artist has abandoned the tricksand dodges and sleights of hand that distract a viewer from the difficulties of the art. There are no narrative elements in theseabstractions to engage the romantic, no figurative elements toimpress the connoisseur; these paintings are a direct confrontation of the problems of color, line, and volume. And the result is a tour de force.

John Biguenet

exhibition dates

march 2nd – april 28th, 2007

opening reception

saturday march 3rd 6 – 9 pm

Front Cover: Burukide II (Basque Political Transfigure)50" x 58", oil on linen, 1994

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El Olentzero (Big Foot)58" x 68", oil on linen, 1998

Socialist Dream of the Basic Bread Basket 44" x 50", oil on linen, 2007

Retablo of The Bad Company (Center Panel of Triptych)46" x 52", oil on linen, 2007

The Four Seasons (Commentary to Vivaldi)48" x 56", oil on linen, 2007

Transfigure with Movement Toward the Right and Clear Tendency to the Left

50" x 58", oil on linen, 1994

518 julia street, new orleans, la 70130

504.525.0518 www.gallerybienvenu.com

The Paradox of William Tell (Homage to Arcimboldo The Marvelous)18" x 18" x 31", polychromed polyester, 1992

ARTWORK © JOSE MARIA CUNDIN 2007CATALOG © GALLERY BIENVENU