Cesar Forero Commentary

The Drawers - Cesar Forero Commentary written by Julie Oakes

exhibitions in the drawers in the gallery commentaries artists catalogs contact

Abstract (Colour)

Imagine a combination between a furnace and a tornado a forceful blast of energy, whirling, spiraling upwards and away while carrying with it, like Dorothy to Oz, an enchanting, curious, sprightly being, enlivened by the tipsy curviness. This is Cesar Forero for the work that he manifests retains the character of the creator - Cesar seated atop of a creative wave. He moves from painting to sculpture to performance. He is a figure skater, a dancer, a ceramicist, a colorist, a seamstress, and among other roles - a choreographer with a conscience.

The visual work in this series dates back to the late nineties, a time of transition for Cesar and his partner Tony who is a medical practitioner. They had moved from Colombia to Minnesota where Cesar was studying and as the conditions in their homeland worsened, they decided to launch into a brave new experience - Canada was their ultimate choice. Cesar's work, saturated with the luscious brightness of an exotic clime, spilt out of any confines to focus on an indication of motion. The shapes mix and convolute inwards to become moiré patterns, oil-slick puddles of converging colors or psychedelic twists of perception. The shiny stiff grounds set the stage. The movement is captured like a photogenic pirouette, frozen in mid-stride, walking, falling, making a transition just as Cesar's life was doing the same.
His seemingly abstract perspective is far from pure abstract. There is narrative behind the fabrication and, in fact, Forero takes the tale a step further, an outward bound towards a capitulation into the two dimensional and three dimensional static states. The result is the birth of a totally new being, a unique object for contemplation. The piece “Box” for instance relates to the necessary sacrifice of a tree outside of the artist's house. Rather than just chop the tree down and haul it away, Cesar builds a new world around the rather tragic demise of the silent woodland inhabitant. He mythologizes the tree by turning it into a new creature, a snail. On route to its creature hood there is a chrysallistic conversion whereby dance transforms the sculptural components into a work of art.

Multi dexterous and multi tasking, Cesar Forero stirs up a witch's brew of marvelous sensations - perceptual, kinesthetic, intellectual and fantastical.