“In-Between”

Art is a constant process of exploration and creation. This concept is especially apparent in these new works of Uruguayan artist Eduardo Cardozo, which were created following his last exhibition in Paris. After years of experimentation working with canvas, fabric, and thread as a means of searching and personal exploration, he now returns to painting from its roots. Although this approach is new, what remains constant is Cardozo’s relentless examination and inquiry through materials and, in this process, breaking concepts in the composition. In this case, Eduardo Cardozo presents the theme of still life as his new object of inspiration.

The paintings of Eduardo Cardozo portray a creative language that is very different from the one we know under the concepts of traditional still life because this artist does not work from the mere observation of the model and then capturing the color and the classical elements of nature in painting. Instead, Cardozo’s works express a unique vision in which the artist first studies the model in depth through the observation of light and darkness. He then creates his compositions and fragments them through the line and the passages of color, breaking the planes of the image and working on the surface of the canvas from the areas of greater depth in the painting to achieve the lights and stripping the line of everything superficial and decorative, hence retaining the essence of the image on the surface of the canvas and imbuing a spirit that is unmistakably his own.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1965, Eduardo Cardozo graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in 1990 and later traveled to Europe to expand his artistic training. Cardozo was awarded the Paul Cezanne grant to study in France and then continued his studies in Italy, where he learned engraving techniques under the renowned printmaker and founder of New York Graphic Workshop Luis Camnitzer. His work has been featured in dozens of private and public institutions in Europe and in the Americas and is in collections worldwide.

Mónica Medina-Porro, Co-Curator
IDB Staff Association Art Gallery

With this new exhibition of works by Eduardo Cardozo, this Uruguayan artist explores still life beyond the traditional form of replicating what is seen and invites us through this new collection of works to envision a new expression of the “natural” through his lens. Cardozo iteratively builds and deconstructs his works in a persistent search for the essence of the organic element and transmutes it through form and color into his novel vision from the traditional, working with the line as the main axis in his compositions dissecting the image of life with his own concept of figuration. At other times, he brings the subject nearly to the abstract but is always able to maintain its nature, challenging in each of his paintings the image itself as the main element, fracturing and reforming with the thread of his own identity and recognizing and promoting the inherent beauty of each object at their various stages of existence.

Alfredo Ratinoff
External Curator

” … We have always chosen objects to paint, and for me, these objects hold the passage of time: fruit at its best, the beauty of withered leaves, and also the link with the history of painting. The palette is more intense, and the brushstrokes are more emphasized. The subject matter is in full view. For me, it is the force of life; for me, this exhibition is a hymn to being alive.” 

Eduardo Cardozo
Artist