8 septiembre, 2008

Tolentino was born in the Mexican mid west (Zapopan, Jalisco, 1977) and studies arts, right there, in the University of Guadalajara (2001) simultaneously in the Cabañas Cultural Institute. Being the city of Guadalajara where she starts to exhibit her work, her proposal conquer swiftly the local critic, jumping immediately to all the national market, being after that moment recognized as one of the most representative young female artist of Mexico.    

In Tolentino’s universe the mixing of styles and motifs is not limited to the simple form of some parts in the human body, but is equally insistent on transgressing boundaries between subconscious and what is “politically correct” known as “sensuality”; much of the vitality of Tolentino’s work comes from her fascination with eroticism, pornography and her own skills, as an artist, to explain the darker corners of the mind.  Of course, it is often very difficult to weigh the meanings of these different elements; but that is an important part of the reason for including them. Individual motifs that might be emblematic in one context, are given another completely new, or even several, by means of constant juxtaposition with competing claims for the attention.

"Planet Alternativo" 80 x 60 cm Mixta/Papel

 The difficulty, and even the impossibility, of knowing what to focus on, is a carefully cultivated aspect of Tolentino’s aesthetic that is reflected at the level of technique in paintings such as “Calandria, 2007” where the problem of identifying the cultural source of any given element is pre-empted by the use of an abstract speech constructed whit raw and real forms forced to impossible extremes.

"Canzada de Manipular Sapos" 80 x 60 cm Mixta/Papel

 The task of subordinating certain elements to others is still obstructed by the plurality of techniques, whereby paint is sprayed, washed, spread, brushed, squeezed and inscribed onto the surface of the picture, playing havoc with one’s received ideas about how to relate to one another the many different layers of mark-making.  The separate incidents in the painting are like objects swimming on the retina; the moment one tries to fix them in view, they change their place in the whole ensemble. Dramatize a parallel effect, in a more schematic, though elegant, form.

"Solo Personal Autorizado" 80 x 60 cm Mixta/Papel

Tolentino have a unique way to explore the sex, lust, fantasies and perversion, and destabilizes the figurative elements in her paintings by constantly dislocating the relations between them, instigating a devolutionary campaign against the history of western aesthetics and moral. And she destabilizes the abstract elements in her work through a structural hesitation, leaving us permanently uncertain which parts of the composition are more load-bearing than others.


I.S.D.M. 3 September 2008 4:00 a.m.

"Sillas Vacias"  80 x 60 cm Mixta/Papel