Ana Prata: Miss Natural and other paintings

About

Galeria Millan presents, from October 10 through November 4, 2017, Miss Natural e outras pinturas [Miss Natural and other paintings], Ana Prata's second solo show at the gallery. The exhibition will occupy Anexo Millan, and feature around twenty oil paintings on canvas varying between small and large formats. The artist operates with non-linear narratives, where thematic and formal aspects interlace. Each painting is to her a specific and unique way of organizing and presenting an idea, that when put together establishes new meaning. There is also a latent ambiguity in her work that can transit between humor, interiority and critical spirit.

Some groups of works are presented in this exhibition, among them: human figures, geometric forms, landscapes and abstract gestural paintings. A triangle can both present symbolic references — as in a kind of portal, or an idea of ascension — and can refer, by the way it was painted, to a pictorial vocabulary of the 20th century. When placed next to the paintings of female figures, other meanings can be attributed to them, forming a web that does not search for an answer but for paths of perception.

In the feminine context, the artist develops a character called Miss Natural, who appears in some works, and which may call to mind the idea of a “universal mother,” a mythical figure present in many pagan religions and cultures, or perhaps flirt with the hippie ideal of a “return to origins” and its remnants in the current culture.  The work of the artist maintains an ambiguous character, a fact that becomes evident when we realize that the hand of one of these female figures resembles those of Mickey Mouse. 

The landscapes of mountains and lakes are structured around the same design scheme (which has the unpretentiousness of a child's drawing), but with unique technique and visuality, creating varied, formally disparate temperaments. When looking at Ana Prata's work, the direct relationship that the artist establishes with several moments in the history of modern art is perceptible, as if this dialogue were a tool for her activity. However, Prata is not resistant to the diversity that this dialogue enables, but rather uses it for exercising freedom