Reflections on my Work as a Painter

Leonardo, Vol. 13, pp. 133-134. Pergamon Press 1980. Printed in Great Britain REFLECTIONS ON MY WORK AS A PAINTER Quero* 1. In my youth I had thoughts about becoming an architect, but later I chose to become an ophthalmologist. I know now why I chose this profession. I did so, because I was attracted by the artistry and delicacy of drawings of the eye with its circular shapes and by the fine threads and beautiful instruments used in eye surgery. Although I have been content with my medical work, there was an initial period of years when I felt that my life was lacking in some important ways. A major change occurred when, at age 35, I became engrossed in pictorial art. My first oil paintings were of a figurative kind, primarily landscapes (Fig. 1). It was then that I began to apply various color combinations and textures and used other media and techniques. As time passed, my pictures became more and more abstract depictions of figurative subjects. Finally, I arrived at a stage where I made only blobs ofcolor on paper. I had completed a transition from figurative to nonfigurative pictures. I became fascinated by my color blobs, and I made a number of paintings of this type before I felt that I had fallen into a trap. I had drifted into a facile mode of expression that could have preoccupied me indefinitely, for I could have painted variation after variation of the same theme. Fig. 1. 'Landscape', oil on canvas, 40 x 60cm, 1967. 2. A break finally came in 1972 when I began to make much more complex compositions, some with figurative elements like the bird at lower left in Fig. 2, Now on *Painter and ophthalmologist, 3 Ramon Gordillo, (Paseo al Mar), Valencia-IO, Spain. (Based on text in French) (Received 12 Feb. 1979). 133 Fig. 2. 'Bird', oil on canvas, 160 x 80cm, 1972. looking back, I regard my previous pictures as a preparation for the kind that provided me with a virtual personal cosmos to explore. I have a passion for music, too, one that extends farther back in time than my passion for painting. I regard .my pleasurable experiences of listening to music and those I wish others to have in viewing my paintings to be similar, particularly in one way. In listening to a pleasurable, often heard melody, I attempt to grasp the fleeting sensation of something new and indescribable. In my painting I try to introduce a rhythmic quality by repeating patterns and colors to cause in viewers a kind of vibrating sensation, awesome and new. I do not try to interpret a piece of music in terms ofa painting, as then I feelan unneccessary restriction would be imposed on the painting, 134 Quero Examples of my current work are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 (cf. color plate) [1-4]. They depict the polished surfaces of metal curved bands, cylinders, spheres, flat strips on glass plate, etc. Some viewers regard such works as representations of a technological w.orld. Perha~s they are right, but I do not try to do so deliberately. It IS true that I am an admirer of present-day technology and, of course, employ some of it in my work as an optht~al­ mologist. But in my paintings, whatever technological characteristics are evident in them are an indirect consequence of the way I paint.. . It is not my intent to convey the Idea of a mechanical world. To me the smooth rounded metallic forms have a quality of softness, almost of an organic ~r a human character and their depiction as elements in my composition ~onveys feelings of loneliness, enjoyment a~d even pain. These are the ideas I wish to convey about life in contemporary industrialized societies. Fig. 3. Untitled. collage. paper on wood, 32 x 26em, 1978. 3. I use what I call 'small', 'medium' and 'large' formats. The small ones are watercolors, oil or acrylic paintings on paper and collages of paper on wood. In making t~ese, I tend to work spontaneously. My initial idea for a picture is not clear at all, for I think that if...