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Hugo Crosthwaite
b. 1971
Tijuana, B.C. |
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photo by Julieta Bartolini
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BIOGRAPHY
Hugo Crosthwaite (Tijuana, B.C., 1971), lifelong resident of Rosarito, B.C. , studied graphic design at San Diego State University. Among his solo exhibitions in Mexico and the United States he has "On the Border of Surrealism" at Daniel Saxon Gallery in Los Angeles (2002), "Urbe Tenebrosa" at Tijuana's State Gallery (2001), and "Tablas de una Novena" at Tijuana's Centro Cultural (2000). He participated in the collective show of Tijuana artists "Pintura Fresca" at California State University-Los Angeles (2001), and in the major exhibition "The Perception of Appearances: A Decade of American Contemporary Figurative Drawing," at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle (2002). "Urbe Tenebrosa" - a solo show at Tropico de Nopal Gallery Art-Space (2003).
Urbe Tenebrosa by Hugo Crosthwaite
May 31 - June 29, 2003
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
"My work presents an aesthetic and technique which relates to the stressed drama and turbulent emotions of the Romanticism of the mid nineteenth century, but also attempts to explore the complexities of expression, as well as the multifaceted possibilities of seeing, which modern abstraction permits. It is an attempt at creating a personal vision, where the spontaneity and beauty of draftsmanship, which traces a naturalistic vision, mixes with historical, mythological and abstract concepts that give rise to contrast, and in doing so, challenge the subjectivity of an art which is purely conceptual.
My personal objective is that of creating a work that is beautiful. Not necessarily a beauty that adheres to the strict Aristotelian parameters of aesthetics, but as an authentic personal attempt at expressing that which a mind considers beautiful after being victimized by the constant barrage of imagery in advertising and mass-produced media entertainment.
My art is influenced by the moralizing, narrative attempt of historical art movements such as the Pre-Raphaelites and Neoclassicism. I dedicate myself to executing a technique, which is minute in detail. The truth in the depiction of the everyday and the ordinary, maintains a delicate balance with the abstract of the subconscious and the romantic and often heroic aspects of that, which is libidinous.
There is an absence of color in my work, which serves the purpose of keeping a distance between the spectator and the struggle that takes place in a particular art piece. The art viewer is confronted with themes of conflict and violence, of religious fervor and ethereal visions, but there is no active participation in them. The flat two-dimensional format of a painting, the trompe-l'oeil illusionism of a classical draftsmanship no longer convince the modern viewer of the events that the artwork presents, thus contributing to a culture that caters to the needs of the "great spectator" whose real interests lie only in watching without real involvement and in judging without comprehending. It is drawing figures as abstract characters in automatic writing, that I depict a narrative personal to me and mysterious to the viewer.
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