Stories (EN)

Osley Gil

Retinal Provocation

By Eva del Llano Rodríguez

Hyperrealism, or photorealism, is among the preferences of emerging Cuban art. Since its arrival to Cuban art in the 1970s with figures such as Flavio Garciandía or Rogelio López Marín (Gory), it has been part of the universe of languages of our painting, and in recent years certain strength is evident in the artistic scene. Each creator focuses on his own concerns and themes, but without doubt it is a recurrent expression. The work of Cuban artist Osley Gil is one of the examples that verify this.

His work focuses on portraiture and still life, generally in large formats, although he does not rule out small dimensions. With his representations he tries to suggest stories from the forms and the atmosphere they generate. He stops at the appearance of objects, tries to capture them in their external appearance and invites us to take pleasure in their surfaces. Far from the pictorial language of gesture and expressionism, hyperrealism implies a careful, precious execution. Expressionism seeks to free the form, while hyperrealism encloses it.

The creative process involves photography as mediator, which captures the preferred instant to be later disassembled –I am thinking about representational techniques– and reassembled in other terms, with a different support and other materials. Likewise, the time it takes to make a work of this kind determines a different relationship of the artist with his work. The hours in front of the canvas to take care of details, colors, textures, and lighting in order to achieve the greatest possible mimesis are a rational and slow process. This does not mean that the final result is not emotionally challenging. 

His work Meditation shows a sculpture of a woman’s bust. It has been placed at one end of a table, contemplating the unoccupied space. A disturbing atmosphere is created by the evocation of emptiness and its inanimate character. It is curious how the image is in different planes: it is a photographed sculpture that has been taken to the painting. This sense of “image depth” we could say that highlights the introspective aspect involved in the act of meditation. 

Another of his still life pieces presents us with a pair of jeans and a shirt, hanging from a coat rack. Now he is interested in the painted simulation of different textiles and the representation of objects that, being part of everyday life, go unnoticed, but the artist captures them and draws attention to them: he brings them back in a different substance, in large dimensions and as the product of a plastic thought. The arrangement as core of a painting breaks the everyday luminosity and enhances the plastic textile values. Moreover, it is another way of representing the subject through his or her attire. It is paradoxical that he devotes a canvas to represent clothing, when most of his works suggest nudity.

The female subject is the protagonist of his portraits. The representation of the woman, congenital to Art History, again seduces the creator. Osley specifically chooses their faces, usually on a middle plane, photographically speaking. The link with the aesthetics of studio photography can be seen in the neutral background and the lighting. In addition, he works with different models, which always direct their gaze to the viewer.

Thus, we have pieces such as La Suno, of small format, which presents a monochrome grayish blue close-up of a face, where the eyes generate the greatest expressive intensity and question the viewer with remarkable magnetism. The care taken in its representation and the importance given by the artist to the communicative power of the gaze are evident.

In Vida (Life), the word has been written in red on the model’s forehead, with the same shade and texture of her lipstick. A relationship of similarity is created that suggests reference to certain features of the woman’s identity, the one connected to reproduction as the origin of life and the feminine sensuality and appeal. 

This is the case in the piece Niña (Girl); however, this time the mood changes and her eyes show a mixture of seriousness and candor. Moreover, a curious effect of lights and shadows appears in this work, where the source of light has been moved and works as an element of uniqueness for the piece. Both works have a similar image, where the cleanliness of the background reinforces the attention on the portrayed subject, and the sharp spectator can stop and intuit features of her personality.

The formal restlessness is definitely Osley’s initial motivation. Then, the reception flows unpredictable, intuitive and chaotic, leading to possible meditations. The artist provokes –in the first place our retina-, and the spectator is free to build his own story.

Osley Gil
Osley Gil
Osley Gil
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