With RETROSCAPES, Carlos digs into his memories and excerpts the landscapes he has once traveled through. From Veracruz to the coasts of Oaxaca, through the central highlands of the estate of Jalisco, he loads his minivan with art materials and paints directly in the field. Because he is always on the move, his technique has to adapt: in place of brushes he uses painting rolls. This allows working both vertically and horizontally and puts up with uneven surfaces.
Carlos Pez (Mexico City, 1971) has been strongly influenced by his long stays in New York; in particular, the Action Painting and Abstract Expressionism. Following the masters of the also called “Gestural Abstraction”, Carlos Pez emphasizes the physical act of painting and his body is fully committed: the canvas and papers are trodden and marked by his feet prints and the dirt of the soil.
At each new stop on the road, the artist extends the white canvas on the ground and figures his own house. The result is a series of colorful abstract paintings on canvas and paper on which the bold marks of paint roll spread in clear shapes. The color palette calls up the 80’s: vibrant oranges, blues and greens cover the canvas with no blend. It is as if Carlos was depicting the many intricate roads he has drove around. His paintings are maps leading to the places you can only reach if you abandon your GPS.