Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Ardenti.
Juan, is a painter of Hispanic origin, born in February 1974 in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, lived part of his childhood in a rural area away from the city without abscess to art schools where he could start his education. When he was nine years old his mother gave him a drawing course that came in a box and taught techniques to make the portraits of Vincent Van Gogh. Since then, two things influenced the work of the artist, the drawing of the portrait and the color.
In the 90’s his family moved to the city and during his adolescence he ventured into graffiti painting without knowing that that would also define his style. His first job was designing shirts in a local store and when he graduated from high school, he was ready to study Art and also Graphic Design in parallel.
After 2005, when he finished his art and design studies, he had the opportunity to participate in numerous collective exhibitions and painting biennials in the city of Maracaibo and Caracas.
In 2008, he participated in his first international competition in the city of Barcelona, Spain with the work “Virgen Dudosa” with which he obtained the first place and the opportunity to project internationally, in 2011 he completed his studies of Pedagogy and for 2016 would have several prizes and honorable mentions in his career,
Unfortunately for 2017 the fall of the economy, the censorship and the political persecution of the communist regime of his country, forces him to move to the United States where he currently remains in the city of Houston.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
The theme of my work lies in the daily life of my environment, what surrounds me, the people on the street, they’re light and the color that surrounds them … people who inspire me, what is supposed to be clandestine and trivial and at the same time, universally diffused as unique. I try to capture instantly the essence of the model and roughly everything that catches my attention.
I always had a predilection for portraits, it inspires me to capture moments and transmit their feelings and emotions. With own characters besides other emblematic personalities of music and arts. In all of them I try to work with a technique full of expression, great meaning and chromatic richness where color always has good stories to tell.
My artistic style is based on the figurative, I draw in formats (canvases) and recycled materials (such as agglomerated wood and zinc) of large size, which from a cluster or base of apparently abstract and random spots are painted with a spatula or brush … And they show up in their process things as lights, textures, volumes and shadows, which are giving indeterminate sub-forms, and authenticity to the work.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Well, I think it is difficult just to mention a challenge, because as artists we face big and complex challenges every day, for example, inspiration, recognition of your work, fame, increase the value of the work or how to promote it …
They are great challenges, but if you think about it, prioritizing these things makes you end up trivializing the job.
I certainly believe that the greatest challenge has a direct relationship with oneself, staying true to who you are, your identity and being able to reinvent yourself every so often …
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Well, I was invited to participate in early 2019 in an exhibition at the Institute of Hispanic Culture in Houston and the Museum of the Americas, but now you can see my recent work on my website: www.juancarlosardenti.com and in Instagram at @ardenti_artist.
Contact Info:
- Address: Green Valley Lane, Houston TX. 77064
- Website: www.juancarlosardenti.com
- Phone: 346-420-8230
- Email: ardenti.info@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ardenti_artist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juancarlosardenti/
Image Credit:
Henrietta Chavez C.
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