Sara Conde has created an installation combining 7 paintings and a looping projected video consisting of 7 projections of photographs, each relating to one of the paintings in the wall. 6 of the paintings have been hung on one wall, and one on the opposite wall. The paintings are different irregular sizes and have been hung at different heights of the wall. The painting on the opposite wall has been hung in the center of the wall and it is larger in size than then ones on the first wall.
The video shows photographs of Beautiful Chaos in Athens, an installation that the artist created in a beach of Athens, Greece in November 3, 2010 through an art organization called 3///3 Three Walls on Wednesdays. This ephemeral installation that divided the beach in two was a drawing in the space made of the artist’s works on paper, ribbon, and wood panels.
In order to create a series of paintings Sara Conde has used the camera as a tool to create specific cropped compositions, a series of positional views of the installation combining elements of the beach landscape and of her own abstract artworks. The images of the installation have been transported before the public as part of this installation with a looping video projected onto the wall.
She has created paintings out of these lensuar images. These appear to be abstract, but are actually paintings of mechanically reproduced images that combine art, the sea, the sand, architecture, plant life, and the sky, and which with the aid of the projected photographs, are posing the difference between abstract and figurative painting as a question.
The paintings, which have been painted from the photographs are made of combined media: acrylics, watercolors, colored pencils, graphite, and the texture of pumice stone to awaken the sense of touch within the painting, and to evoke the texture of the sand of the beach.
The light and colors of the Mediterranean Sea are found in the paintings and the photographs: different shades of blue and sand, with accents of other colors such as pink, red, or green.
The paintings that are have been mediated by digital technology appear unreal, frozen, and airless, and question the difference between abstract and figurative art at the same time as the artist is creating a dialog between painting and photography.
Triangle of Beautiful Chaos on a Greek Beach. Acrylic, Pumice Stone, and Colored Pencils on Muslin. 40 x 18 inches. 2011
Simulated Oval View of an Area of Beautiful Chaos in the Mediterranean Seat. Acrylic, Pumice Stone, Watercolors, and Colored Pencils on Muslin Mounted on Panel. 8 x 6 inches. 2011
Simulacrum. Colored Pencils and Graphite on Pine Wood Panel. 5.7 x 8.3 inches. 2011
Blue, Wind and Green. Acrylic, Pumice Stone, Watercolors, and Colored Pencils on Muslin. 38 x 46 inches. 2011
Sandy Afternoon in the Beach. Acrylic, Pumic Stone Medium and Colored Pencils on Muslin. 46 x 40 inches. 2011
Ribbon Drawing in the Sand. Acrylic, Pumice Stone, Watercolors and Colored Pencils on Muslin. 40 x 18 inches. 2011
Palm Tree and Watercolor Landscape Blowing on the Beach. Acrylic, Pumice Stone Medium, Watercolors and Colored Pencils on Muslin. 12 x 16 inches. 2011
