A work art by itself is an entity. It intrinsically invites a response from the onlooker and engages him in a state of interaction with it ultimately inducing into him a positive experience qualified as an Aesthetic experience. The artist in a specific state of mind is preoccupied by such experiences and is compelled to materialize the experiences by his very virtue of being an artist. He transforms his free imagination onto a chosen medium using his skill according to the facility offered by that medium. His triumphant moment is when he is able to overcome the limitations of the medium and achieve the desired results a successful transcription of a conceived image, imagery or ideas in a material form.
The choice of a particular medium depends on artist’s need to articulate a specific expression that could be best achieved only through the chosen medium. His creative urges impel him to experiment incessantly, in the process making innovations and arriving at newer results.
The present show of Querozito De Souza showcases his drawings, paintings and prints executed recently and in near past. It is his natural bent of mind to switch from one medium to the other constantly to keep engaged and to rid himself from the sense of binding to a particular medium.
Be it drawings, paintings or prints, Querozito’s dominant theme of work is life and destiny. It is not the observed sense of reality but the intuitively conceived reality that he expresses in his works. The human form is the most dominant form of his expressions. It is transformed, disjointed, mutilated and most of times emptied of all its anatomical and fleshy contents as though an outer covering like attire on the body. There is an obvious element of eroticism in the works that he creates. For quite some time Querozito has been indulging in erotic themes. Certain objects such as fish, cock, mushrooms and open mouth of fish are suggestive of phallic and female genitals. Odyssey, Seduction, At the top, In anticipation, Mortal being and Recessed are some of his works that allude to eroticism.
Life in its carnality takes a sensuous form through various objects, man-made or natural. These objects are arranged in a still-life forming the pictorial space in Querozito’s drawings. The objects configured in a peculiar arrangement bring about an association with oblique intent. In a bid to emphasize sensuality he uses human figures without heads. These figures stand, float and recline in mute silence and controlled passivity in space sometimes undefined and yet other time rooted in a surrealistic atmosphere (Reposed, Odyssey and At the end of the day). A sinuous delicate line and a subtle coloring of forms gives the objects in the picture a sensuous appeal. The sensuality is enhanced by the use of transparent draperies with fine floral motifs, which envelop the human figures. These figures are stark white, almost two-dimensional and are delineated in fine lines from the picture surface. The draperies around them are used in such a way that they impart a sense of three dimensionality to them (Fruit, Infatuation, Mortal being and Under the Wrap)
Querozito displays a fine sense of printmaking. His lithographic prints reveal a thematic shift from his drawings and paintings. His themes border on destiny and fate rooted deeply in psychic structures of mythical origin. The human form is associated with symbolic forms such as bull, trident, linga and fish. (Resurgence, The act and The Base of Existence) It is as though that these symbolic motifs enter into the pictorial space in association with the human torso in a fated compulsion to form and reveal a psychic configuration. Fate and necessity are bound to one another mutually, to inseparable cohesion. Fate in traditional myths is said to give birth to the beginning of all things. Necessity forces the end of all. The order of things follows on these to sought perfection on time’s arrangement. The strange configuration of motifs such as bull, fish etc. in relation to human forms emerging into the work of the artist betrays the seemingly mundane reality of material existence. It is the manifestation of the unconscious and deeply rooted inner conflict, which perhaps the artist encounters to resolve within. Querozito’s work invites one to participate and explore to gain resurgence with the mythical world.
Querozito displays a fine sense of printmaking. His lithographic prints reveal a thematic shift from his drawings and paintings. His themes border on destiny and fate rooted deeply in psychic structures of mythical origin. The human form is associated with symbolic forms such as bull, trident, linga and fish. (Resurgence, The act and The Base of Existence) It is as though that these symbolic motifs enter into the pictorial space in association with the human torso in a fated compulsion to form and reveal a psychic configuration. Fate and necessity are bound to one another mutually, to inseparable cohesion. Fate in traditional myths is said to give birth to the beginning of all things. Necessity forces the end of all. The order of things follows on these to sought perfection on time’s arrangement. The strange configuration of motifs such as bull, fish etc. in relation to human forms emerging into the work of the artist betrays the seemingly mundane reality of material existence. It is the manifestation of the unconscious and deeply rooted inner conflict, which perhaps the artist encounters to resolve within. Querozito’s work invites one to participate and explore to gain resurgence with the mythical world.
In an eternal quest for emancipation and salvation, to free from the bondage of human folly, Querozito incarnates in pictorial form his inner experiences. Experiences constantly undergo changes to transcend the past and move into future. A change beacons to a movement forward perhaps towards eternity!