The Alchemy of the Everyday: Paintings by Elena Molinari

Plus One Gallery is delighted to announce the forthcoming solo show by gallery artist Elena Molinari. This exhibition will showcase her latest still life paintings, a natural progression from her infamous ‘crushed tin can series’.

Elena Molinari was born in Montevideo, Uruguay where she started painting at a young age. She later gained a Bachelor in Fine Art from The University of Montevideo. In 1988 Molinari moved to Spain, where she started teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Madrid. She worked as a Professor there until 2011, however was simultaneously working as an artists and has been exhibiting her work extensively since 1980 both in individual and collective shows all over Europe, the US and South America.
Hyperrealist Elena Molinari’s most recent still life paintings have a very stylistic bold quality to them. Featuring a variety of materials such as reflective surfaces, glass and pottery as well as silk cloths, fruits and cut- flowers; her paintings exemplify what it is to be a hyperrealist artist. Molinari’s work holds the quintessential characteristics of the traditional hyper-realistic painting. However, Molinari’s objects details are emphasised and intricate pictorial elements are added that in reality would not be seen by the human eye. Molinari who has previously gained recognition
‘Two Corncobs’, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm For her “Crushed Tin Can” series, has stated that her transition to more classical still lives, came as a natural evolvement of her work. She says “After so many years of painting cans and looking for a balance between so many flat, metal objects I needed to focus on something new”. Hyperrealist artists emphasize objects details and often add pictorial elements which help create the hyper-realistic effect. In reality these intricate details could not be seen by the human eye. Molinari began looking at new textures; fabrics, glass vases, flowers and fruit, to name a few. Glass features quite often in her hyper-realistic paintings. The reflective surface really helps to create the heightened illusion.
The block background found in many of Molinari’s still life works is typical of her most recent style, when asked in a recent interview with Plus One Gallery what the idea was behind this, she said:
“I paint the dark block colours in the background of these paintings to enhance the objects in focus and to help them define themselves in the space created. For me this adds depth and a more hyper-realistic quality.”
When asked about her artistic process Elena explained: “My process begins with an idea of what I would like to paint. Once that idea is clear in my mind I gather all the elements I need to create the composition; I play around with the composition until I get the balance I am looking for. Then I start taking photographs, sometimes hundreds until I get the image I want. During this process I have to act fast as a lot of subject matter is perishable; flowers and fruits don’t last long. From the chosen photograph I do a lineal drawing onto canvas and from here, I start painting. I work with oils applied in many layers, based on transparencies."