Download PDF - ARTisSpectrum

AlbenaFernando SaladoFernando Salado’s photographs show a world in which natureand artifice, as well as realism and symbolism, meetin provocative pairings. Salado, who says that his goal is todepict “the atmosphere that surrounds objects,” takes the realityof the world around us — a flower, a body, or a simple canof Coca-Cola — and recasts it through a subtle use of light,shadow and color. The resulting images give each object aniconic presence, while the mix of textures lends every photographa dynamic sense of energy. Salado says that he oftenfinds himself being led toward “surreal photography,” and it iseasy to see the influence of such surrealist masters as ManRay and Maurice Tabard in his work, especially in their combinationof elegance with a hint of conflict.Having worked for over 30 years as a photographer, FernandoSalado has pursued many aspects of the medium, from takingstreet pictures, to working as a wedding photographer toindustrial photography. This has led him to take a flexible approachin his art. “Regarding the medium,” he says, “I just useany photography equipment, studio lighting or natural lighting”— whatever process happens to be right for the individualphotograph. But that open-ended process is always part of anoverall unity that accounts for his work’s clarity and force.www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Fernando_Salado.aspxOrigins Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 48” x 36”For Albena, the surfaces that she uses are as much a part ofher artistic statement as are the paints themselves. Thosesurfaces range from cardboard that has been left for recyclingto torn canvases. “There is still so much power in these trashedmaterials,” she reminds her viewers. She is also willing towork on “regular canvases,” when they are appropriate for apainting’s subject and can match the force of her creations.Her adventurous stance toward materials extends to the mediashe chooses to paint with. Her sensual images — which usea color palette rooted in red, yellow and other earth tones —employ acrylics, tempera and gels to create a body of work thatvividly depicts nature in a striking variety of ways. The works onpaper or cardboard often look as if they have been unearthedthemselves, their weathered surfaces giving the paint the feelof a centuries-old fresco. When she uses acrylics on canvas,the works are brighter, the colors taking on a modern vibrancy,the shapes more sharply drawn.In all of her work, Albena, who was born in Sofia, Bulgaria andnow lives and works just outside Washington, D.C., makesnature’s light into something highly physical — whether it’s thesubterranean feel of a red-and-yellow sunset emerging out ofblackness, or the sunny glow of a field of flowers.www.allbeart.comwww.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Albena.aspxAcoso Psicolgico Photogram-Lambda Print 16” x 19.5”26 ARTisSpectrum