Dennis Hollingsworth

Ana Serratosa

Via my gallery in Barcelona, four pieces from this summer's work opened at a private gallery in Valencia, Spain this week. Ana asked me for some kind of personal introduction to my work for her collectors there, so I proposed a letter from me to be read by her at the opening. The brilliant and beautiful Gemma Farreras (who is now working for Miguel Marcos, my gallery in Barcelona) worked hard last weekend to deliver an excellent translation in Spanish. I wish my Spanish was this good:

Me gustar?a empezar expresando mi m?s sincera gratitud a Ana Serratosa por brindarme la oportunidad de exponer mis obras en Valencia y, por extensi?n, tambi?n a todos ustedes por acudir a verlas. Estoy especialmente agradecido por exponer mis obras en Espa?a, especialmente porque nac? en Madrid pero dej? la ciudad cuando s?lo contaba con tres a?os de edad. Mucho m?s tarde, cuando era un adolescente, pas? de nuevo por Europa con mi familia de camino a Australia, y tuve la gran oportunidad de pasar una semana en el Prado. Por aqu?l entonces ya dibujaba todo el tiempo, el arte ha estado presente en mi vida desde que tengo uso de raz?n. La obra de Goya era particularmente emocionante, especialmente porque pude ver sus Caprichos, que se expon?an en aquel momento. Recuerdo quedarme de pie, observando su famoso Saturno devorando a sus hijos, sintiendo c?mo mi mente se llenaba de pigmentos, mi campo visual completamente dominado por la visi?n terrible y a la vez demasiado humana de Goya. Fue en ese preciso instante cuando supe que ten?a que convertirme en artista, que ten?a que ser pintor. Me ha costado la mitad de mi vida volver a Espa?a, soy un hijo pr?digo.

Lo que est?n viendo ustedes hoy es una selecci?n de obras pintadas durante este pasado verano. Creo que el tema supremo de la Historia del Arte es, precisamente, el ?mon?logo interior? de un artista durante su trabajo en el estudio. El di?logo art?stico contempor?neo discute lo que puede representar el trabajo de un artista, la necesidad de un estudio en s? misma, la existencia del propio artista o de la consciencia, e incluso si la Historia ha terminado. A pesar de todo eso, yo creo que el Arte es la historia de la curiosidad y el disfrute humanos, especialmente si la historia tiende a contar los malos comportamientos. Navego por esta corriente de pensamientos c?mo un velero navega con el viento: alterno el tim?n entre babor y estribor, seg?n el momento. En los cuadros Moving with the Mind a Wander y Tide and Eddies and Currents and Undertow, empec? con un dibujo que se borr? hasta cierto punto. En ?Mago, Mago, Ven Aqu?!, dej? que el dibujo formara una composici?n radial, quiz? una encarnaci?n del asombro. En Damocles, volv? las tablas del rev?s y busqu? otra forma de ?dibujar?, esta vez con gruesas marcas de pintura, c?mo si fuera una escena feliz dibujada con el estilo de un monstruo.

Mientras que generalmente acepto el apodo ?abstracto? referente a mi trabajo, tambi?n afirmo que la abstracci?n y la representaci?n son como el Polo Norte y el Polo Sur. He acabado comprendiendo que la Historia del Arte ha colocado m?s que suficientes banderas en cada uno de estos polos, y yo no necesito a?adir otra. En lugar de eso, el conocimiento de esos polos puede darnos una gu?a para navegar el mundo de la pintura de forma mucho m?s amplia. As?, la pureza de la abstracci?n o de la representaci?n es menos importante para m? que la forma en que una se forma en la otra, c?mo la realidad y la imaginaci?n se sirven mutuamente, c?mo una influye a la otra. adem?s, la pureza es menos importante para m? que la mezcla, pero a la vez persigo el ?arco tensado de Her?clito? para encontrar la armon?a cr?tica y necesaria en la mezcla de los opuestos.

Llamo a estas pinturas ?H?medo sobre h?medo?, lo que se conoce c?mo alla prima, y consiste en pintar en el tiempo de secado de la propia pintura. Mientras estaba en bachillerato, me situ? en una postura cr?tica a las teor?as art?sticas predominantes, que tend?an a favorecer un tipo de arte demasiado dise?ado, demasiado seguro de sus significado ?es decir, obras de arte que se interpretaban mucho antes de ser creadas. Quer?a pintar de un modo que hiciera posible la equivocaci?n, y la limitaci?n del tiempo que supone la t?cnica alla prima era c?mo jugar al ajedrez con un cron?metro. Por supuesto, con alla prima, todos los errores se enmiendan sobre la marcha, una iron?a que encuentro deliciosa.

La estrategia de ?H?medo sobre h?medo? se estableci? r?pidamente: pintar r?pidamente en el m?ximo de formas posibles, mantener cada toque c?mo si creara un lenguaje propio. A partir de ah?, una manada de formas f?sicas se manifestaron: bolas espinosas que recuerdan erizos de mar (a las que bautiz? ?Monads?); elementos fractales impresos transmitidos en el lienzo por papeles, cosa que recuerda las decalcoman?as de Max Ernst; un m?todo con el que se utilizan herramientas que podr?as encontrar en una ferreter?a para alisar la superficie, sacando pintura con fragmentos de cart?n; ?daubers? hechos a mano con tela tejida para crear flores? era c?mo si hubiese encontrado un men? secreto en un programa inform?tico para pintar. Pintaba de forma afirmativa, aceptando las cualidades formales de la pintura de la misma forma que aceptaba su color y su tonalidad. Me divert?a pintando, igual que me divierto ahora.

Mis padres se conocieron en Madrid a mediados de los 50. Mi padre, de Missouri y Texas, era un hombre de carrera militar, enrolado en las Fuerzas Armadas del ej?rcito de los Estados Unidos y destinado a Torrej?n de Ardoz. Mi abuelo materno, filipino, hab?a enviado a sus hijos de Manila a Madrid para acabar sus estudios. Mi familia viaj? por todo el mundo, y mi hermano y yo vivimos en muchos lugares distintos: Virginia, Filipinas, Nuevo M?xico, Panam?, Missouri, Las Vegas, Florida, Australia. M?s tarde, cuando acab? el instituto me enrol? en la Marina por muchas razones: honorar a mi padre, pagar la universidad, ver m?s mundo, tener tiempo de planear mi educaci?n c?mo artista. Entonces decid? planear un ostentoso proyecto para mi educaci?n: primero arquitectura, y luego pintura y escultura. Tan pronto como me entregaron la licencia de arquitecto, empec? un posgrado en arte. Les estoy explicando esta historia para transmitirles un sentimiento de estar entre dos mundos, de mestizaje, de hibridaci?n y heterogeneidad, de existencia en un mundo que no est? exactamente aqu? ni all?.

Espero que esta peque?a rese?a biogr?fica tambi?n exprese el origen de mi predisposici?n a la diversificaci?n intelectual: dejar que las ideas crezcan desde abajo, no intentar crear obras de arte que insista en su propia inteligencia, pero intentar ser lo m?s inteligente posible. Y, con suerte y esfuerzo, dejar que la riqueza de experiencias transpire por mis poros. ?sta es la raz?n de la irrupci?n de internet, mi blog, mi diario de estudio on-line. Me he acostumbrado a utilizar mi blog c?mo instrumento para registrar mi curiosidad y c?mo m?todo para derivar los t?tulos de mis obras ?y as? confirmar su contenido. Les invito a examinarlo, los t?tulos de todas mis obras est?n all? representados.

Me gustar?a agradecer a mi galer?a en Barcelona, Miguel Marcos, qu? es mi representante en Espa?a. Me siento afortunado de tener a la vez una sincera amistad y una excelente relaci?n personal con ?l, a un muy alto nivel. He sido muy afortunado de trabajar con galer?as en todo el mundo, ya que de siempre ha sido mi sue?o mostrar mi trabajo de forma internacional. En particular, mi mujer y yo siempre hemos seguido el consejo de mi abuelo, ?s? c?mo un ?rbol y incl?nate en la direcci?n en que quieres caer?, y por eso siempre hemos querido vivir a la vez en Estados Unidos y en Europa. As?, poco a poco, hemos ido logrando este sue?o, viviendo tanto en el sur de California c?mo en la Costa Brava. Esta presentaci?n en la fant?stica ciudad de Valencia es otra realizaci?n de estos sue?os, y no puedo evitar reiterar mi gratitud a Ana Serratosa por su gentileza, entusiasmo y generosidad present?ndoles mis obras.

Atentamente,

Dennis Hollingsworth

Here it is in English:

I would like to begin with a heartfelt expression of gratitude to Ana Seratossa for the opportunity to exhibit my paintings in Valencia, and by extension, my thanks to you all for coming to view my recent work. I am particularly thankful for the opportunity to show my paintings in Spain, especially since I was born in Madrid but left with my family when I was three years of age. Later, when I was a teenager, I was transiting Europe with my family while en route to Australia and I had the opportunity to spend a week at the Prado. I was already drawing a great deal at that time, art has been vivid in my life since my earliest memory. Goya's work was particularly electrifying, especially since I was able to view his Caprichos, also on exhibit at that time. I remember standing in front of his famous painting, "Saturn, Devouring his Children", feeling my mind flood with pigment, my entire visual field dominated by Goya's terrible yet all-too-human vision. It was then I knew that I had to be an artist, that I had to become a painter. It has taken me half a lifetime to return to Spain, a prodigal son.

What you are viewing today are a selection of works on canvas and wood panel, painted during the summer of this year. I believe that it is the stream of consciousness of an artist at work in the studio that is the supreme subject for art history. Even though our contemporary dialog contests what an artist's work might comprise, if a studio is necessary at all, if the designation of "artist" or even consciousness exists, if history itself has ended; I maintain that art is the story of human curiosity and delight, especially if the story tends to chronicle bad behavior and the Oedipal turn. I navigate the stream as a sail boat tacks into the wind: I wheel to port for a time and wheel to starboard for another. In the paintings "Moving with the Mind a Wander" and "Tide and Eddies and Currents and Undertow", I began with a drawing that was erased to some degree. In "?Mago,Mago, Ven Aqui!", I let the drawing delineate a radial composition, an embodiment perhaps of amazement. In "Damocles", I upended the tables and sought another way to "draw", this time with fat marks of paint, as if it were a happy scene drawn with the stylus of a monster.

While I generally accept the moniker of abstraction in the description of my work, I more broadly assert that abstraction and representation are like the geographic poles, north and south. I have come to believe that the history of art has placed more than enough proprietary flags on each of these poles and I need not add another. Instead, knowledge of these poles can deliver a kind of compass that can be used to navigate the world of painting at large. Therefore, the purity of abstraction or representation is less important to me than how one morphs into the other, how reality and the imagination can serve one another, how one is implied by the other. Indeed, purity for me is less important than entanglement, but at the same time, I seek the strung bow of Heraclitus to find a necessary and critical tension in a mixture between antipodes.

I call these paintings "Wet into Wet", otherwise known as alla prima, which is the act of painting within the drying time of the paint. While I was in graduate school, I became critical of the influence of the prevailing art theories which tended to favor art making that was too designed, too sure of it's meaning -that is, art objects that were over-determined long before they were made. I wanted paint in a way that was possible to fail, and the time limitation of alla prima was like playing chess with a tournament clock. Of course, with alla prima, all missteps are eliminated along the way, an irony that I found delicious.

The strategy of Wet into Wet fell into place quickly: to flash paint onto the surface in as many different ways possible, to maintain each touch as in a language of mark making. From this, a menagerie of physical forms became manifest: spiny balls that resemble sea urchins (I called them "Monads"); printed fractal elements that were delivered with peeled paper that resembles Max Ernst's decalcomania; a method of flattening the surface with tools that one could find in a hardware store, scooping paint off with shards of cardboard; handmade daubers made of knit fabric that formed the flower petal-like elements... It was as if I found a hidden pull-down menu in painting's computer program. I was painting in the affirmative, accepting the formal qualities of paint alongside that of color and tonality. I was then, as now, having fun.

My father and mother met in Madrid in the mid '50s. My father, who was from Missouri and Texas, was a career military man, enlisted in the U.S. Airforce, stationed at Torrejon. My maternal Filipino grandfather had sent his children from Manila to Madrid to finish their education. My immediate family had travelled the world and my brother and I grew up in many places: Virginia, Philippines, New Mexico, Panama, Missouri, Las Vegas, Florida, Australia. Afterwards, I joined the US Navy after high school for several reasons: to honor my father, to pay for college, to see more of the world, to have the time to plan my education as an artist. It was then I decided to build a grandiose project of my education: first architecture, then painting and sculpture. As soon as I received a license to practice architecture, I enrolled in a graduate school in art. I am relating this history to you in order to convey a feeling of being between worlds, of the mongrel, of hybridity and heterogeneity, of existing in a world which is neither here nor there. I hope this short biographical sketch can also convey the source my bias towards intellectual content: to let ideas brew up from below, to not try to make art work that insists on it's intelligence but to try to be as intelligent as possible. And with luck and effort, to instead allow a richness of experience seep through my pores. This is the reason why I am fond of the recent advent of internet web-logging, the blog, my online studio diary. I have come to use the blog as an instrument for registering my curiosity and as a method of deriving my titles -and therefore confirming the content- of my work. I invite you to peruse it. All of the title of my paintings are hyperlinked for this purpose.

I would like to thank my gallery in Barcelona, Miguel Marcos, who is my primary representative in Spain. I feel blessed to have simultaneously a friendship and an excellent working relationship at such a high level. I have been fortunate to be able to work with a team of galleries worldwide, it has been my longstanding dream to show my paintings internationally. In particular, my wife and I have heeded my grandfather's advice to "...be like a tree and lean in the direction you would want to fall" and therefore we have always wanted to live both in the USA and Europe. And little by little, we have been making this dream come true by living both in the Costa Brava and Southern California. This particular show in your famed city of Valencia is another fruition of these dreams, and I cannot tire of repeating the expression of my gratitude to Ana Seratossa for her grace, enthusiasm and generosity in presenting my paintings to you.

Sincerely,

Dennis Hollingsworth