Arturo Mallmann
Arturo Mallmann was born in 1953 in Montevideo, Uruguay, but lived most of his life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied sociology at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires and spent a few years writing poetry and short stories before teaching himself to paint and draw.
“Since I was a kid, I always wanted to go to places where I could look very far away, be it the mountains, the ocean, or the never-ending horizon of the Argentinean Pampas. I never knew what to say when people asked me what was I looking at. I guess that what I liked was precisely that there was nothing, in particular, to look at, it was a great feeling of liberation for my frequently turbulent soul. When I start a painting my first motivation is to develop a space that presents no barriers for the eyes. That is why depth is so important to me. For many years, I’ve been developing a technique that, more than creating an illusion of depth, rather transforms the painting into real three-dimensional space. This technique consists of innumerable layers of translucent acrylic colors applied between several coats of clear epoxy resin. One coat of the resin equals around fifty coats of varnish, so after a few coats of resin you can build up the surface of the painting up to an inch thick or more. The interaction of all these layers of colors between the coats of clear resin not only increases the depth but also creates a much more vibrating final effect than the one you get when the colors are applied one on top of the other, without anything in between. When I finish a painting it is difficult sometimes to tell which is the dominant color. You can say it is green or red, but if you look carefully, you see that whatever color you are looking at is not just that color but the result of multiple interactions instead. I place the human beings that appear in my paintings very far away from the viewer, usually so close to the horizon that they frequently look on the verge of disappearing. I do that not only to further increase the depth but also because I want those human beings to be surrounded by a vast, naked, and mysterious universe that presents no distractions, very different from the urban environment where most people spend their lives these days, an environment that is hopefully more conducive to approach our deepest selves.”
Arturo Mallmann’s abstract landscapes emanate a lustrous sheen reminiscent of glass canvases, yet they are crafted without using actual glass. Mallmann employs a meticulous technique involving multiple layers of clear epoxy resin interlaced with translucent acrylic colors. This method allows the colors to seep through each layer, creating a mesmerizing depth as they progressively amalgamate.
Rather than inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the scenery, Mallmann’s compositions adopt a distant perspective, positioning observers as voyeurs peering into the depicted scenes. Often featuring a sparse gathering of figures traversing an indeterminate terrain, his works evoke a sense of curiosity, prompting viewers to ponder the journey’s ultimate destination.
While human figures may not feature prominently in all of Mallmann’s paintings, many of his paintings illuminate the intersection of land and water, seamlessly blending into the encompassing sky. Vibrant hues of greens and blues merge to form an ethereal vista, evoking a sense of transience and wonder.
Additionally, Mallmann’s oeuvre occasionally delves into tropical landscapes, a homage to his upbringing in Uruguay and Argentina, infusing his work with nostalgic undertones.
“A vast imaginary landscape with one or more figures in the distance, wondering about their existence, has been a recurrent subject matter in my work. I have now introduced new types of images that are more inspired by contemporary life instead of being inspired by deep existential matters. In those images, depth is not as relevant but it still plays a very important role.
In both the traditional and new work, I use the same technique that I have been experimenting with for many years. This technique consists of applying innumerable coats of translucent acrylic paint between coats of varnish and epoxy resin. Sanding before applying the resin, together with the paint’s translucency, allows the layers underneath to show up and interact with the new ones.
In many of the pieces, the eyes of the viewer, together with the eyes of the figures, are interrupted by a thick, foggy atmosphere that prevents them from seeing much further. A foggy atmosphere where we wander around and are never able to trespass. In the new work, it is the characters or the shapes themselves the ones that are elusive and refuse to reveal their mysteries. To me, that thick foggy atmosphere, as well as the elusive shapes and persons, represent the barrier beyond which lie the answers to those questions that we so frequently pose to ourselves and to the universe. Questions about our unknown origins and the meaning of our existence.”
Arturo Mallmann 2017
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