Chill (Primary Title)
Candida Alvarez, American, born 1955 (Artist)
Having run away from seemingly inadequate definitions for abstract painting, I find myself immersed in a relationship that tracks, exchanges . . . there is no more picture; there is only painting.
—Candida Alvarez
Alvarez is an abstract painter whose works integrate pop art, color theory, and memory. The artist draws upon her Puerto Rican heritage through her use of complex, vibrantly layered compositions. Moving between abstract and figurative forms, she often cites pop culture, historical and modern art references, current affairs, and personal memories.
In Chill, Alvarez employs silhouettes of white and a gray against pops of bold, bright colors. The work is as much about the wintery landscape of Chicago, where the artist resides, as it is about a fascination with the aesthetics of cartoons, kitsch, and hand-crafted objects. The painting evokes the monochrome, rich with texture, yet disrupted with pops of color. Alvarez discusses the work as one in which shape and color dominate. The process of how paint is applied to the canvas becomes focal to the viewer’s eye. For the artist, notions about abstractions being devoid of figuration is debunked in this gestural wintery landscape.
Signed in graphite in upper left corner verso: "Candida Alvarez".
Signed, dated, and titled in graphite on upper left corner verso: "Candida Alvarez/ 2011/ Chill".
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment
"Black in the Abstract: Epistrophy" Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. 2013 "Out of Easy Reach." DePaul University Art Museum. Gallery 400 and Rebuild Foundation. The work was on view at DePaul University Art Museum.Chicago. Illinois. 2017
Solo:
"Candida Alvarez: Here." Chicago Cultural Center. Chicago. Illinois 2017
"Candida Alvarez: mombomountain." Hyde Park Art Center. Chicago. Illinois 2012
Glenn. Alison. Ed. "Out of Easy Reach." !DePaul Art Museum. Gallery 400 and Rebuild Foundation. Chicago, Illinois). Forthcoming.
Myers. Terry. Ed. "Candida Alvarez: Here." (Chicago Cultural Center. Chicago, Illinois). Forthcoming
Thomas. Valorie D. "Live from Mambomountoin: Merge to the Pleasure of the Beat."
!Chicago: Hyde Pork Art Center). 2013.
Waxman. Lorie."Candida Alvarez's work has something for everyone." Chicago Tribune. August 2. 2017. http://www .chicogotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent candida-aIvarez-review-0803-st ory.ht mI
Myers. Terry. Ed. "Candida Alvarez: Here." (Chicago Cultural Center. Chicago, Illinois). Forthcoming
Thomas. Valorie D. "Live from Mambomountoin: Merge to the Pleasure of the Beat."
!Chicago: Hyde Pork Art Center). 2013.
Waxman. Lorie."Candida Alvarez's work has something for everyone." Chicago Tribune. August 2. 2017. http://www .chicogotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent candida-aIvarez-review-0803-st ory.ht mI
© Candida Alvarez
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