The chaos of nature\u2019s gray forces in Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps<\/i>, which overwhelms visitors who venture into the Tate Gallery in London, could be the source of Agust\u00edn Pontesta\u2019s rampant interest in landscapes. This Basque artist, vastly influenced by the philosophy of the sublime which left its mark on the work of William Turner, has succeeded in creating a style of his own that endows nature with astonishing power when compared with the human being.<\/p>\n
Pontesta\u2019s infinite landscapes feature horizons that appear to be absent and masses of people who blend in and are confused with extreme terrain. Some of his pieces have an apocalyptic tone; in others, the textures and relief work emulate the heavens or hint towards rocks that remind viewers of the bottom of the sea. Like a Greek god in training, he creates worlds, universes, planets… and also life \u2013 life brought on by the artist himself with every stroke of his brush.<\/p>\n
In the privacy of his studio, he makes his own paints with pigments and binders, mixing them with different materials. Many of his creations are done on stands made of fragmented pieces of wood that he puts back together \u2013 an allusion to creation from destruction. The cracks and the holes that arise in his paintings are voids that take on a special role. Although he often employs a myriad\u00a0of techniques such as drip painting, expressionism, and collage, in the last phase of every piece he turns to precise and delicate brush strokes to give his work a \u201cunified\u201d feel.<\/p>\n
Like the work of the English landscapist, his is based on observation and contact with nature; but not with the green fields that surround the Thames \u2013 instead, his work is based on observation of and contact with remote places like the Amazon jungle, the Andes, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Thar Desert in India, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, as well as the vast expanses of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and the Himalayas, among others.<\/p>\n
Pontesta\u2019s creations also feature a certain \u201cdormant spirituality\u201d influenced by the Zen philosophy which he has practiced throughout his life by participating in seminars and intensive retreats. Likewise, this artist is familiar with, and has also practiced, Tibetan Buddhism and has been in attendance at conventions by the Dalai Lama himself. His love of oriental paintings has brought him to study the Sumi-e technique for monochrome art and Japanese calligraphy. His multiple interests have put him in touch with realities that have changed his way of being, adopting alternative ways to go about a conventional social system. Both his life path and his introspective outlook which is, at the same time, open to the world, help to reinforce the strength of his artistic work. Pontesta has made the words of Turner his own \u2013\u201dmy job is to paint what I see, not what I know\u201d\u2013 and has taken them to the spiritual realm.<\/p>\n
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Agust\u00edn Pontesta<\/strong><\/p>\n Tel.: +34 634 412 084<\/strong><\/p>\n