Garden Benlliure 2016

Curator: It is immediately verdant! Almost overwhelming, this painting. Editor: Indeed. What we’re observing is Alejandro Cabeza’s "Garden Benlliure," created in 2016. Cabeza employs oil paint to depict what appears to be a sun-drenched scene en plein-air. Curator: The layering is intense! Notice the density of the paint, particularly in the upper portion where the foliage is suggested with rapid strokes. Does it suggest nature's abundance, or perhaps its untamed energy? Editor: I’d argue it's the juxtaposition of control and chaos. The formal structure of the pillars contrasts sharply with the looseness of the painted vegetation, almost threatening to overtake them. Semiotically, this layering invokes a sense of historical layering too: civilization attempting to impose order upon the landscape, an order that's inevitably overgrown. Curator: Exactly. Think of the symbolic weight of gardens themselves. For centuries they represented not only peace, leisure, and even control over the natural world, but the idea of something idealized. Cabeza appears to toy with this established understanding of the garden by presenting an abundant chaos and untamed flora which in turns evoke a reflection on our relationship with nature and cultivated spaces. The palette and application could also point toward the visual strategies within the late-19th-century, evoking the aesthetic memory of Impressionism. Editor: From a purely formal perspective, that rapid, visible brushwork captures the fleeting quality of light and shadow, an instant captured for posterity. And that restricted palette; predominantly greens, creams and earthy tones really allows the eye to rest, even within that vibrant foliage. The artist seems very much occupied by their relation to surface: canvas, nature. Curator: And to memory, too, don’t forget! It invites a deeper meditation on time, decay, and how both culture and nature influence our shared cognitive space. Editor: Absolutely. An interesting confluence of structure and gesture indeed! Curator: Cabeza's Garden has prompted some wonderful ideas about our sense of harmony, beauty, and historical influence, doesn’t it? Editor: Indeed, this lush scene is quite intriguing when viewed through a lens of careful construction.