/  by Jonathan Centeno

Once Upon A Silverscreen (Audrey Hepburn) 40" x 48" Mixed media on panel

Once Upon A Silverscreen (Audrey Hepburn) 40" x 48" Mixed media on panel

I am overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to the Icon series.  Nothing new here.  It has all been done before.  Or Has It?  Whenever I was approached by the self-defeating "It's all been done before" by my students, I would simply respond with "Yes it has, but not in your unique style".  So I will continue to paint the Icon series, in my unique style, always with an eye toward fine art, and a presentation that distills the essence of the persona, illuminating strong qualities that might be overlooked in commercial, fan-club and popular imagery.  I let subtleties in mood created through colour and placement of motifs create a new picture of the individual.  In Who New?, Andy Warhol's hair is not the shock gold-silver colour expected, but a glamorous pink setting off an entirely different vibe.  In Taxi Driver, the entire composite of De Niro is rendered in black, Payne's Grey, and white.  A rather sober colour scheme for the serious actor for the ages.  The central concern for me is the painting.  It is, after all, just that.  The stressed wood panel suggests old-fashioned billboards of a bygone era.  The resulting nostalgic patina is appropriate in that we always seem to see these figures as "once upon a rose-coloured time".  They are always in the glorious past, even if they are still living.

Malaparte: Cielo Rosa /  by Jonathan Centeno

The Giardini Series has been a vehicle for transmitting emotion, through colour and texture.  The subject of this blog is the latest in the series.  This one is titled: Malaparte: Cielo Rosa.  The piece came about after October the 14th, the day of my daughter's wedding.  Yes, I am the lucky father who walked the aisle with my beautiful daughter on my arm to "give her away" to a fine young man (I can't think of an elegant way to say this so please forgive me- I also truly feel we have gained another son). Our hopes, dreams and wishes for our children often seem to be at odds with reality, but sometimes, like on October 14th, the stars align.  I could not think of a better way to preserve the intense happiness that we felt  that day as parents than to express it on canvas. The setting was ultra-modern, sophisticated, and in keeping with times- but the truth is, in a very old-fashioned way, two families simply gathered together in celebration of their children's nuptials.  A time-honoured tradition as old as the human race itself.  Is there a better excuse for a party? The weather was perfect, culminating in a rose-coloured sunset sky.  The venue was perfect (Malaparte) but mostly, the protagonists, were and are, perfectly suited for each other.  A lifetime of happiness is definitely written in the stars

Like A Rolling Stone... /  by Jonathan Centeno

46" x 56" mixed media on wood panel

Nobel prize.  LITERATURE.  Well deserved-but it seems so obvious to those of us who have lived with, and sometimes by his words.  It is fitting that his words, possibly more than his music will endure.  The ghostly image of this soul who set the tone for a generation is haunted by his own words and incarnations in the image above, called Invisible Now.  

Winning the Nobel, probably the most "establishment" award one could think of- well, now you got no secrets to conceal...How does it feel?

Invisible Now 56x46 mixed media on wood panel, available through Hazelton Gallery, Toronto.

 

La Porte Rouge /  by Jonathan Centeno

Title:"La Port Rouge"

Title:"La Port Rouge"

I finally got the chance to visit the Maritimes.  Cape Breton, Louisbourg, the Cabot Trail, PEI, Fundy, Halifax, Lunenburg, Peggy's Cove.....well, it was certainly inspirational.  "La Porte Rouge"  (54x54 mixed media on canvas) is my first response to this magnificent, hauntingly beautiful part of Canada.  It is concerned with the vastness, the rough and smooth erosion of the rock surfaces, and the earnest resolve of the original settlers as represented by the colours against the predominantly gray and white background.  The coloured areas come directly from the painted wooden simple vessels and dwellings.  They hold their own against the dominating background.  They bend, but do not break.  La Porte Rouge is just that- derived from a tiny dwelling on the Atlantic shore near Lunenburg, 

angled against the wind, surf and rain, it's brightly painted gables and doors weathered and worn- and more beautiful because of it's story.

Often, abstraction reveals a clearer truth.

Post Matrix /  by Jonathan Centeno

title: Post Matrix size: 48" x 48" x 1.5"  medium: mixed media on canvas

 

After the Big Bang (really?).  And if there is or ever was a logical, organized mess as this universe evidently must be according to whomever you wish to quote,  then what of the moments immediately prior to the BB?  Was it a logically organized situation packaged into a sub-sub-sub-atomic nano nano particle?  Was it some sort of mathematician-pleasing matrix?  Or was it- GOD (Heaven Forbid) And what did it look like in the immediate moment after the BB?   When it all began to expand, seeking freedom as it unfurled...I imagine the post-matrix to have been as beautiful as it was chaotic........

Post Matrix Series available through Saatchi Online Gallery,  Hazelton Galleries,  Gallery 133, Crescent Hill Gallery, Frame of Mind Gallery.........

A Day In The Life /  by Jonathan Centeno

I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph.
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure
If he was from the House of Lords.
I saw a film today oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
but I just had to look
Having read the book.
I'd love to turn you on
Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
Somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
I'd love to turn you on......

/  by Jonathan Centeno

Tempesta D'Amore

Encounters

     Tempesta D'Amore and Encounters were two pieces from my private collection which is, on an ongoing basis, featured on Saatchi Online Art, under Pietro Adamo, artist.  The pieces in this collection have adorned the walls of our homes, and some still do.  Our lifelong friend, Dawna would stare at two particular works which "spoke" to her, both on a professional and personal level.  As a long time top realtor, it is easy to understand her interest in the moody,atmospheric "Encounters" which hints at possible chance meetings and relationships in the big modern metropolis of today.  The colour, division of space and hint of what I like to refer as "Classic Italian Old Film Elongated Proportion" render this piece in a somewhat romantic light.  That it should wind up in a dear friend's personal collection is deeply rewarding, especially since she virtually examined it whenever she visited our home- and she is a person who definitely knows what she wants.  Again, I want to emphasize that I believe this choice was rooted in her intellectual (very) and professional side. 

    My instinct tells me that Tempesta D'Amore tugged at her heart strings.  Her personal story contains more triumph over adversity that I am at liberty to discuss.  I have no doubt that the sense of optimism that happens as a sudden storm passes, which is suggested in the piece, was a factor in her attraction to Tempesta. I know that the viewer may interpret the ascending forms as anything from horses to dragons but I assure you, there was no intent.  My mood that day in the studio was relaxed, and yes, triumphant.  I had finished an especially tedious commission successfully and felt I needed to move on.  The evening prior I had watched documentaries on Goya, Velasquez, El Greco and the Golden Age of Spanish painting and I recalled my visits to the Prado and to Toledo.

There is no doubt I had a Goya moment in the emotionally charged Tempesta.  Any person familiar with the wildly beautiful brush strokes of Goya can easily spot the influence, even if this work is pure abstraction.  I needed a title- as I stared at the azure, cream, emerald and crimson- but nothing seemed to resonate.  The phone rang.  It was my elderly but still very relevant mother who informed me she had just watched a moving episode of her favourite current soap opera which was titled Tempesta D'Amore.  

Encounters and Tempesta D'Amore are now in the private collection of D. Borg.  I can sleep, knowing that two of my personal favourites are much loved.

Some Licks /  by Jonathan Centeno

Click image to enlarge

In the 46x56 mixed media piece "Some Licks", it is not hard to tell who the apples of his eyes are.  They do comprise him, after all.  In the crazy vibe of the sixties and seventies, all that seemed to matter outside of protest marches was the pursuit of love or perhaps to put it more succinctly- satisfaction. Yeah, we did it all, and it's all been done- but not like this.

Seems to me he got some.

"Some LIcks" by Adamo,

Available through Hazelton Galleries, Toronto, Miami.

Enjoy your summer!