Jul 21

Begoña Lafuente

Begoña Lafuente is a contemporary figurative painter and digital artist who has exhibited across Europe and internationally in the United States and Dubai. European countries Begoña has exhibited in include the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Recent exhibitions include features at Nicoleta Gallery in Berlin and Thomson Gallery in Zurich. Awards include first place showings at various juried exhibitions and a couple of artist of the month recognitions from It’s Liquid platform. Publications include interviews with several independent publishers and most notably a critical summary by Menduina Schneider Gallery in their catalogue for the Open Dialogue exhibition in San Pedro, California.

The paintings and digital works convey the human figure with elements of design and embellished ornamental compositional backgrounds usually integrating into the subject themselves. Normally containing geometry or curvature, these angular surfaces strategically use negative space to fill in areas of the subject or become portions of the backdrop. With clean, crisp lines and solid blocks of color and form, the art conveys pop art tendencies and may remind the viewer of fashion posters and photography by elite name brand designers.

With a sense of confidence and beauty the figures resemble fashion models in their poses, outfits, hair styles, and features. There are portions of linear forms of black which seep into the subjects creating visual cracking of the composition. Usually portraying females, Begoña defines feminine beauty through expressions of color and crisp form which resemble silkscreen printmaking techniques. The digital art could be mistaken for printmaking with the sense of flatness and carefully carved out features and design segments.

Pineapple Dream (pictured above) remains one of Begoña’s most complex paintings. The intricate variation in color and expressive brushwork differs from her usual depiction through solid blocks of tone. The compounded background creates asymmetrical foliage patterns as well as colorful designs in the figure’s dress. With a Naples yellow background, the figures' flesh blends into both fields of varied color to the right and monochromatic matching tone to the left creating a sense of distinction. Pineapple Dream represents a lush painting which blends the modernism of Henri Matisse with design elements of contemporary design and fashion photography.

Begoña Lafuente can be described as a painter who creates sensual designs using female portraiture and figures with a sense of fashionable exposé regarding the character’s personality. These portrayals of in vogue women redefine purpose regarding figurative aesthetics through integration of complex weaving patterns. With a depiction of flatness containing representational form, the shadows and features on the figures blend seamlessly with the compositional design or negative space. Begoña Lafuente shapes contemporary image-making towards progress in regards to depicting refreshing, bold, and head-turning takes to incorporating feminine aesthetics with design principles.