Angel Otero Puerto Rico, b. 1981
Untitled (SK-OE), 2013
Oil paint and oil paint skins collaged on canvas
83 1/2 x 61 x 3 in
212.1 x 154.9 x 7.6 cm
212.1 x 154.9 x 7.6 cm
5019
Further images
Angel Otero's iconic 'paint skins' have evolved in stages throughout his career, as he has extensively investigated his signature technique. Otero's paint skins are produced by laboriously layering oil paint...
Angel Otero's iconic "paint skins" have evolved in stages throughout his career, as he has extensively investigated his signature technique. Otero's paint skins are produced by laboriously layering oil paint on glass, often recreating a painting from art history or a photo from his own family history. As the oil paint cures, it takes on an elastic, skin-like texture that can be peeled away from the glass and transferred to canvas. Otero has spent more than a decade exploring the versatility of the technique, at times going more sculptural in how he drapes the paint skin, and at other times applying it flat; he has also experimented with layering and reductive mark making on the glass, cutting and collaging smaller pieces, integrating fabric and other found objects into the paint matrix, reversing his painting during the transfer (so that the underside shows outward), and innumerable other variations. This exploration of paint itself is both a methodical study of the substance of painting, and a time-intensive meditation on his chosen subject matters.
This particular piece has an emphasis on sculptural "waves" of oil paint that fold outwards off the canvas surface, like drapery.
This particular piece has an emphasis on sculptural "waves" of oil paint that fold outwards off the canvas surface, like drapery.
Provenance
The artist's studio, New York, NY, USAKavi Gupta gallery, Chicago, IL, USA
Private Collection, Los Angeles, CA, USA