Antonio Murado’s lush, subtle paintings at Holly Johnson Gallery are made with oil on Belgian linen. Their range of pictorial effects is calibrated with a sensitivity almost painful to behold, and it’s possible to spend some time happily getting lost in the details. All seventeen works are from last year. There are three untitled works that depict bursts of floral color—part petal, part stain—scattered over broad swaths of hide-colored background; one transitional work, Black Bear, in which an inky pelt is laid out flat and covers most of the surface; and thirteen of the Mantos (veils), in each of which a single billowing form brushes up against the edges of the frame. You can look with wonder at the many varieties of facture that have been layered together, from the thin lines left by a brush’s bristle to the bubbly stains left by air-blown paint. The actual surface, however, is glazed with wax and quite perfectly smooth, which converts the range of textural effects visible underneath it into more purely optical ones. Born in Galicia and resident in New York, Murado has perhaps had more recognition in Spain than the U.S., but American museums should be paying close attention here, if they aren’t already doing so.
Images at top (from left): Antonio Murado, Manto (2011) 41″x 41″ and Manto (2011) 60″ x 48″
