When abstract art propels creativity.

Hasn´t it happened to you that the sudden vision of something really amazing and unique (an artwork, a scene in the city, a landscape…) “turns on a special button” that for some unknown reason propels your creativity to levels you had never imagined you could get to before? Doesn´t it happen to you that the more art you see, the more difficult it is to be deeply impacted by an artwork?

Last weekend while arriving to this elegant Barcelona´s appartment of some friends (where they show the art they collect), I got through the entrance door and there it was, a stunning huuuge abstract piece of portuguese contemporary artist Rodrigo Oliveira. Uauuuu!

Rodrigo Oliveira artwork (aprox size: 3×5 mts)

Rodrigo Oliveira

Why did it impact me that much?  I guess it has to do with its huge size, the surface in which it had been made, a brilliant metallic shade with a mirror at the back, and the contrast between this “industrial” surface and the multicolored natural oils mixed all around that freely fall all over the artwork. All this, together with the difficulty I encountered trying to figure out if it was a painting, a sculpture, or kind of a new aesthetical expression, were the key elements that impacted me the most. The moment I saw it, I thought this was a clever, quiiiite clever, conceptual piece with a brilliant execution behind.

If you red the post where I talked about the muses and my just started abstract art series called decompostions, you will already know that I´m currently plastically investigating a new concept that captures my attention: How things disappear, and little by little transform themselfs into something new and different (abstract), and how we as humans try to stick to what we know and feel confortable with, hoping to avoid this inevitably change.

Antonio Basso. Decomposition #6. Mixed media on burlap

The moment I saw Oliveira´s abstract art something changed! Something happened to me! The next morning I woke up and while walking on the street I saw what we in Spain call a “Palet”, which is a wooden structure used to transport goods.

The old abbandoned palet

I took it and carry its no less than 15 kgs to my studio. Before doing anything, I left it in the terrace to observe and analyze it in detail during a couple of days. Its age, still lasting organic and natural colors, its random breaks and volume where all quite interesting.  The rusty cloves around it as well as the small little wood peaces I was about to face where also challenging.

Preparing this new surface

Working on a surface like this has become a new challange and my creativity has turned on moving me into a new and unknown”territory”. I said to myself: what if I try to explain the Decompositions concept in a different way? What about using a surface whose usage has nothing to do with traditional pictorial ones? How to confront a surface with such a strenght and personality that has nothing to do with a traditional canvas?

I started working on it

Stay tunned to see the evolution of this new creation, and feel free to share this post if you have enjoy it.