Fernando Ayuela: Communication in Abundance
Kate Hickey
From January 23rd to February 14th, Fernando Ayuela’s exhibition "Abundance" will be shown at the Broadway Gallery in New York. This impressive exhibition is the culmination of Ayuela’s three-year obsession with the idea of plenty.
This notion of abundance has developed in Ayuela’s mind for many years as he developed his skills as a painter. Ayuela was born near Palencia, a small city in the north of Spain in 1975 and began his life as an artist painting on the abandoned walls of derelict houses. Ayuela tells me: "Art cannot be taught but found." At the tender age of 18, Ayuela left Spain and traveled Europe, drawing postcards and selling them on the streets of Paris. In 1996 he finished his studies and set off again, this time to London where he remained for some time, inspired by Baconism and William Blake.
Learning the local language proved a huge obstacle, but he soon found a new means of communication. "I arrived in London ten years ago, searching for something, although for what exactly was unclear, seeking ideas, I suppose. The first year was tough, being unable to speak English. I could not understand people or the world around me. Communication was difficult, although my pencil was always beside me, and painting was my strongest means of communicating with others."
It was this period that inspired his new exhibition "Abundance." He continues: "In London I had everything. I was the richest man, not because I earned lots of money but because I did not need anything at all. My current work is not the reflection of my life in London, but about abundance. It is an examination of exuberance, fertility, richness and opulence, together with the corresponding destitution."
The pieces that make up the "Abundance" exhibition range greatly in color and mood, moving between muted earthy tones and warm luxurious colors. His large canvases are full of texture and depth. "Each work I am showing is a pure control of color that joins and disappears within the canvas, giving equilibrium to the viewer, a statement of accordance. The series is painted using thick acrylic on canvas, applied with a gun to create a feeling of continuity."
Ayuela seems emphatic about the message he wishes to communicate. This could emanate from his training at the Art School of Palencia Mariano Timon, where he worked with different groups and media and was taught how to use art as an alternative means of communication. Of his up coming exhibit he stresses that "it is not a negative, judgmental, or political statement; it is a reflection, a mirror. There is no determination in excess. Abundance is totally relative, and in order to provide a perspective, a benchmark must be set by which to define to subject. The final paintings in the series provide the viewer with a comparative."
These works also have a root in ancient Egyptian worship. Ayuela explains, "at the start of this journey, I took a goddess from Egyptian mythology named Heset–the Goddess of Plenty–the Egyptians knew when there was abundance, and in response they would worship Heset."
The development of the ideas behind "Abundance" is part of Ayuela’s own journey and it is his intention to guide the viewers on a similar one. He said, "I intend the viewer to look at my work, stay with it, and learn progressively about their own state of abundance. The work is not about happiness either; it is about being cautious and sometimes naïve. Any hint of emotion you might find in my work is false, given that feeling happy in the state of abundance is false. In the end, the works endeavor to control you, not the other way round."
Before ingratiating New York with his presence, Ayuela’s work will be shown in La Viande Gallery in London from 11th December. Also, for the first time, Ayeula is working with Hove Art.
