- 'Abstractions'
- by Carlos Muñoz-Jimenez
- "Q" Street Gallery (2015 Q Street NW #2, Washington, D.C. zip: 20009)
For an artist proclaimed to be proficient in the culinary arts, Carlos Muñoz-Jimenez also knows the ingredients of visual art quite well. The selections (all works on paper) were presented in a private home/gallery located in Dupont Circle; they were available for viewing by appointment and at the reception for the public, which was in June. Nearly one half of them were gouache paintings that were beautiful and dynamic (mostly done in red, purple, blue & black like the one above); the other half were drawings done in black & white media, a wide variety of scale (two of them taking up most of the wall) and in the style of the two works below. The function of Muñoz-Jimenez's work, as cited by the exhibit's press release, is to 'represent the imagination at its most creative and abstract form, inviting the viewer to an in depth conversation'.
An online event announcement mentioned about the public reception that 'the artist will be present for engaging and thoughtful conversation'. That turned out to be accurate, at least the unqualified conversation part. The artist was there making conversation and answering questions. Amidst a dialog with him, a young budding political artist (who also paints) was asking Muñoz-Jimenez lots of questions. This person seemed committed to uncover an agenda/intent, by way of the artist, that could be evidently relayed through information displayed in the work. I think the searcher left unsatisfied. Maybe all the probing had missed an explanation that lies on the surface: abstraction exists by itself with little to no output tailored to our world, yet can resonate with any input we bring to it - from pure tactile sensation to didactic and political reverie.
Exhibits by Carlos Muñoz-Jimenez being held now as well as later in 2010, at Q Street Gallery, include 'Illuminated Concepts' and 'Botanical Illustrations'.
