The Order of an Inner World

Paintings by Francisco Mejía Guinand

April 25, 2003 – June 13, 2003

AMA | OAS Gallery
OAS Main Building
17th Street, NW (Corner of Constitution Ave.)
Washington, DC 20006

THE EXHIBITION
When Francisco Mejia paints, the images come from imagination. He, like many artists, finds in the creative act his own particular place. It is a unique space that may be seen as defensive, but not confining. The creative act makes it possible for the artist to dare to look beyond, to see the unseen, to construct new horizons, to experience the abstract form without any objective support, to create anew a concept about beauty, and to invent unprecedented maps and compasses that have their own North.

The eternal discussions about form and content and the distance that exists between the inner world and the world of appearances is described by Kafka in the Metamorphosis when Gregor Samsa sees himself transformed into an insect. The protagonist does no accept the terrible transformation for he continues to think about the daily routine: about missing the train, about arriving late to work… In this way the Czech writer masterfully reminds us that as human beings we have inherited the anguish of searching for meaning in life. In much the same way, states of being also have their place in painting. The space and time of these inner worlds have, as Kandinsky so aptly put it, a particular “spiritual resonance,” human cadences with their own rhythmic beats which are grounded in craftsmanship, alchemy, grace, and creativity.

One of the secrets in the painting of Francisco Mejia is the material that he works with. Since the beginning he has painted with sandy, grainy pigments. He has persevered with lyric abstraction, with the world of chiaroscuro, and with the possibility of a creation grounded in poetry. Because of this he looks to verse (which like words are the visible face of a concept) as the motor for an idea. He draws on the epic of Rilke, the force of Valery, the mysticism of Sor Juana Ines or the unparalleled richness of Borges.