Art Explained: The Promise / Persistence of Light

J. Antonio FARFAN

The Promise / Persistence of Light

2017

Oil on linen

52 x 42 in. ( 132 x 106.7 cm)

Private Collection: Houston, Texas.

The curtain theme has been a part of my painting vocabulary for nearly three decades now and ever since the work of French artist Jean-Michel Alberola appeared in a Philip Starck interior. The 1990 red and orange oil painting, part of a velour partition in the Asahi beer building in Tokyo, was a mesmerizing inspiration to all of the curtain pieces I’ve done thereafter. In the building, the fabric draped down from the ceiling and had an opening created by a tasseled tie back that exposed the other painted side. The painted curtain has an even more striking effect on account of its shadowy welcome into an undefined room.

The attributes of the curtain have played a more symbolic role as the theme has become a more dominant part of my entire artistic vocabulary. In this large piece titled The Persistence of Light, the painted curtain represents a partition between light and dark that is ripped by our own actions of inquiry and investigation and a transcendental power that assists us in creating a more redemptive world with our new found truth.