C.

Mirasierras' pictorial thought / Barcelona 1995-2009

C. Mirasierras I was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1956. At the age of 10 years I was used to painting on big-sized primed cardboards that my mother prepared for me. I received paint lessons from Antoine Paget, a French watercolorist settled as a retiree in a Spanish small village called Tordera, where my mother owned a house. At the age of 16 my art tutor passed away, and I gave up painting, thinking that I wouldnt use a brush anymore in my life. But some twenty years later I found myself visiting art galleries and talking about art with painters during my visits to the numerous Barcelona art galleries. A friend of mine, Jorge Ruz, a painter from Mlaga, asked me, "why dont you start painting again?". So I bought some gouache paints and some brushes and started to sketch and work on a few still life paintings and landscapes in the Ramn Rogent manner. My Malaga friend saw the paintings and added: not bad chum, but forget these soap water paints and use oil paint instead, youll get better results. And I did so. The figurative scheme was OK at the moment, but I was caressing the idea of other new trends that would better represent what I had in mind. And I then began the series Lithos, which represented an approach to the idea of staging sculptures painted on canvas, as a way of conveying a massive representation of thought, space and scene construction. There is a sort of Giorgio de Chiricos atmosphere in some of them; mi intention was to represent Nature as a solid form that makes us a fragile representation of human life. But it was in the Dalmau art gallery of Barcelona where I came across what I was looking for. Joaquin Torres Garcias Constructive Universalism opened the door to a new dimension, which would become the means to express the numerous ideas that came in a flood to my mind. From that moment on, the series Mis elementos (My elements) was starting to emerge, as it had been hidden somewhere within my subconscious. This series was followed by other series, and each one represented a step forward, an improvement, or a solemn commitment to upgrade my work.

Pictorial thought My painting ideology is based on pictorial conceptualism as a form of expressing the emotional load within the painters subconscious mind through quasi-geometrical elements. The use of geometrical or modular forms evokes a sort of sculptural construction that determines the oneiric fields that lie underneath our every days life reality. To me, Torres Garcias Constructive Universalism opened the pathway to understanding the distribution of the elements that take part in the pictorial scenario. This distribution embodies the concepts that determine the space and the elements delimited by a specific structuring moment. The mathematical comprehension of space, as a form where elements reside in, will be determinant for the conception of the work. As in music, figures represent the coordinates where rhythm is attached to, and symbolize the behavioral pattern that supports the emotional load attributed to the painters ego.

C. Mirasierras' pictorial thought / Barcelona 1995-2009

In the series Lithos, 1994-1996, I conceived the idea of representing sculptures painted on canvas as a way of conveying a massive representation of thought, space and scene construction. It was in the series Mis elementos (My elements) when I began to apply some of Torres Garcas theory on structuring. The use of structural elements, signs and quasi-figurative forms were some of my primary tools. It was not my intention to copy his paintings, but I felt comfortable with the use of a pictorial formulation that resolved many of the doubts I had at the time; I wanted to escape from the gravitational force of pure figurative or abstract paintings, and this technique exemplified a methodology for expressing my conception of nature and thought. The aim was to establish a conductive medium that would link the observers mind to my conceptual world, as an invitation to enter into my mind-gallery. All of a sudden new ideas and on-thescene structures began to flow just like when someone turns the tap on. The involvement of the observer is unavoidable as it also is a prerequisite that prevents the painter from gloating over his/her work unproductively. Once again it is important to take into account the observers impression on the work he/she observes, for his/her criticism modulates the painters work without altering the artists enterprising nature. Bit by bit, I was introducing myself into the sphere of primitivism; I did not rule out the use of perspective elements, and I still dont, but I began to conceive Nature and its elements as symbols of our own perception, where they are represented as icons of our existence and origin of our thought. As a first step forward, the series Opus Nova described a sort of iconography embodied into a flat structuring; this lack of perspective is used as a valid instrument and taken into account just because of its absence. The determination of ideas is based on the aesthetic principles of the painter, where this factor, aesthetics, represents a philosophy that is intimately related with the observers emotional status. The series Opus Primitiva represents another step forward, or somewhere. My intention is to make an approach to the masterly work of primitive painters, since they represented nature, not as a copy of it, but as an icon of their lives, their sufferings and their striving for survival. To our modern eyes, their works lack the elegant and delicat e touch of our modern technology, which has permitted us to express the nuances of nature, although technology has, across time, modified the message that lies within the scenario of Nature.

C. Mirasierras' pictorial thought / Barcelona 1995-2009

Mi obra est basada en el expresionismo conceptual; se aleja del figurativo neoclsico para entrar en una metodologa ms primitiva, no exenta de riesgos a la hora de enjuiciarla. Para m, la representacin de la naturaleza fsica u objetiva del entorno y de sus elementos obstaculiza el poder sensorial de crtica del observador, ya que le entretiene en enjuiciar el valor decorativo, aunque no esttico, de los elementos que estn estructurados y que siguen unas coordenadas meditadas o gestuales del artista. En ambos casos, cuando la estructura es meditada o gestual, y en este ltimo caso por la impronta del momento, encontramos un proyecto de plasmacin de una ideas o conceptos que el artista determina segn su criterio subjetivo y que el observador analiza desde su punto de vista, subjetivo tambin. El estado emotivo a la hora de crear obra condiciona el resultado final de la misma, tanto para el mismo artista como para el observador, vido este ltimo, de nuevas sensaciones que espera encontrar en cada pieza que examina. El estado anmico del observador en ese primer encuentro es tambin importante ya que en este punto el observador, aunque expectante, no podr emitir una valoracin real para s mismo. A veces una segunda lectura aclarar algunas dudas que han sido sometidas a proceso de asimilacin o revalorizacin de algn componente de la obra. El arte primitivo ha sido una de las herramientas ms importantes de las que ha dispuesto el arte hasta ahora. Todos hemos bebido de sus fuentes; no se trata de copiar un arte primitivo, que para algunos pueda ser superficial por su simpleza plstica, todo lo contrario, si no que aprendemos de aquel humano predecesor nuestro una metodologa bsica sin filigranas estructurales y cromticas, pero descriptiva en lo iconogrfico y conceptual en lo expresivo. Conjugar todos los datos que tenemos en la actualidad para expresar nuestra filosofa particular es tanto ms difcil para nosotros como para aquellos individuos antiguos entender nuestra sociedad. Todo ello sin caer en la superficialidad o la escasez gestual. En todo caso, considero que mi obra es una expresin retrica en cuanto a la representacin natural de los elementos del entorno, ni siquiera podra llamarle aproximacin. Se trata de crear un concepto plstico que me acerque a la subjetividad del observador.

C. Mirasierras' pictorial thought / Barcelona 1995-2009

Solo exhibitions Centro Cultural Amigos del Arte. (Barcelona, Diciembre 1995) Ateneo de las Artes Plsticas. (Barcelona, Marzo 1996) Sala de Divulgacin Cultural Literaria. (Lrida, Septiembre 1996) Sala Norbltic. (Barcelona, Febrero 1997) Sala Theseo de Barcelona. (Barcelona, Julio 1997) Zona de Arte Calafell. (Calafell Tarragona), Octubre, 1997) Centro Cultural El Retiro. Sitges (Barcelona), Mayo 1998 Sala de Arte La Llosa. Cunit (Tarragona), Octubre 1998 Sala Norbltic. (Barcelona, Junio 1999) Asociacin de Artistas Contemporneos (ASACO) (Vilanova y la Geltr Barcelona, Marzo 2000) Sala d'Art Roca Foradada (Roda de Bar Tarragona) Sala d'exposicions Municipal de Calafell (Calafell Tarragona), Agosto 2000) Centro Escandinavo Cultural y de las Artes (Barcelona 2001) Colegio Oficial de Decoradores y Diseadores de Interiores de Barcelona. (Barcelona 2001) Colegio Oficial de Decoradores y Diseadores de Interiores de Tarragona. (Diciembre 2001Enero 2002) Associaci de Artistas Contemporneos (ASACO) (Vilanova i la Geltr, Mayo 2002) Col.legi Oficial de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Tcnicos de Barcelona. (Febrero/Marzo 2002) Galera leos. (Barcelona, Abril 2002) Colegio Oficial de Farmacuticos de Tarragona. (Mayo 2002) Espai d'Art, Rest. Quixote de Barcelona. (Barcelona 2002) Diploma en la Biennal de Pintura del Colegio Oficial de Farmacuticos de Tarragona. (Septiembre 2002) Galera Theseo de Barcelona. (Octubre 2002) Galera leos de Barcelona. (Tarragona, Diciembre de 2002) Sala dArt Anna Barcons. (Coma-Ruga 2003) Christian Johansen Fine Art Gallery. (Obra grfica en depsito) (Londres) Zona d'Art Calafell. (Segur de Calafell 2003) Sala d'Art Anna Barcons. (Diciembre 2003) Centre Cultural "El Retiro"de Sitges. (Sitges 2004) Galerie Oiseaux dOr des Arts Actuelles. (Bruselles 2005) Miembro de la Sociedat Cultural "Pere Stampfli" de Sitges Barcelona (Centre de Estudis Sitgetans) Centre Cultural "El Retiro" de Sitges Barcelona (Enero 2006) Fundacin Caixa Peneds (Vilanova, Abril 2006) Sala de Arte La Llosa de Cunit. (Cunit Tarragona), Junio 2006) Galera leos de Barcelona. (Barcelona, Mayo 2007) Zona Calafell. (Calafell Tarragona, Agosto 2007) Centro Escandinavo Cultural y de las Artes (Barcelona Mayo-Junio 2008) Galera Pau dArara (Sitges, Marzo-Abril Sitges 2009) Fundacin Caixa del Peneds (Vilanova, Mayo- Junio 2009. Links relacionados: http://c-mirasierras.artelista.com/ http://www.artistasdelatierra.com/artistas/carlosmira http://www.saatchionline.com/profile/92731