Dionisio Cortes
Azulejos 1 Azulejos 2 Azulejos 3 Azulejos 4 Untitled (lime/ochre) Untitled (plumbago/burnt umber) Untitled (celeste/burnt umber) Untitled (ultramarine/ultramarine) Untitled (salmon/teal) Untitled (tangarine/magenta) Untitled (salmon/mint) Untitled (mint/purple) Untitled (chartruse-1) Untitled (chartruse-2) Untitled (chartruse-3) Untitled (chartruse-4)
on paper
Works On Paper

My current oil and watercolor work consists of patterned imagery. I build up my subject matter by laying decorative designs [drawn from materials and patterns found in the decorative arts] over rhythmic and gestural patterns. The work reflects my interest in Islamic art, the decorative arts, and the search for the “ideal beauty” in the age of surplus information.

I develop these pieces by accumulating tens of layers. Substrates for the oil pieces are rigid surfaces, usually wooden panels, coated with dry gesso, which yields a smooth, luminous surface. Veils of paint are layered on top in an obsessive and ritualistic process. The process interweaves materials and methods generating an ethereal and atmospheric translucency
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