Fine Art Sale by Isabel Bérénos
Written by Josée Thissen-Rojer
Four years after her first solo exhibition, “Freedom and Discipline” in 2019, in the Snip Gallery of the Curacao Museum, Isabel Bérénos organized a Fine Art Sale of her work on March 5, 2023. Between the two solos, she has continuously worked in her studio and participated in events like Kaya Kaya and the Open Atelier Route.
Isabel Bérénos’ “Fine Art Sale” was held in a brand new apartment in the residential neighborhood of Bottelier. The exhibition was a one-time event, scheduled for Sunday afternoon at the end of the day, thus marking the conclusion of the weekend. Many people responded to the invitation, so it was a well-crowded event.
The collection she showed was so extensive that the whole apartment was used for the exhibition. Her work hung on the wall in the bathroom, the porch, the hallway, really everywhere. Besides being colorful, Isabel’s paintings are also quite large. Fortunately, the apartment had many large walls where she could put her work with the advantage that it also gives an impression of how the painting works in a home interior.
Every work had a small card providing details of the painting. Sometimes with a QR code for additional information. Isabel was present, casually dressed in her painting pants, as if she had briefly stepped out of her studio to welcome guests. Pictured on her t-shirt was 1 of her works, Nasementu (Birth). It turned out to be a painting with a special meaning to her and was hung outside, at the front of the apartment. It was essential to her that it was the first thing everyone saw.
Measuring 145 x 225 cm, Nasementu is quite a sizable work. The accompanying card explains that the work was inspired by Dutch graphic artist Escher (1898-1972). Escher is known for the optical illusions he depicted—for example, stairs that run simultaneously up and down. Escher’s metamorphoses are also very popular, where one image is slowly altered into a new image. Perhaps Isabel’s inspiration for Nasementu is more in that corner.
The text on Nasementu’s card read, “We see here a visual as if new life sprouts out of two communicating cells”. At the center of the canvas, two oval forms are placed side by side in a rectangular field. Lines and figures emerge from these forms, making contact with shapes and lines on other parts of the canvas. The work is a maze of forms, lines and colors. Each line or shape you follow takes you to another part of the canvas, where something else occurs.
It is as if the work is composed of multiple paintings. Through a subtle play with color and white areas, Isabel does manage to create unity in her work, despite its complexity. Isabel explains that Nasementu also marks a development in her artistic style. It is the first painting where she steered away from black as a dominant feature and allowed light colors and white to appear in her work.
Isabel is all energy and, on Sunday afternoon, seemed to be everywhere at once. It is a very soft and friendly energy that she radiates. However, behind this softness lies a great strength that allows her to focus on her artistry and create the artworks displayed in the exhibition.
The above text may be reproduced only with mention of the source and author: Curaçao Art®️ www.curacao-art.com. Image rights of the artworks remain the property of the artist.
Addition: Isabel Berenos’ paintings are on display at Bario Hotel, Otrobanda, until July 15, 2023.
