Something of Gaudí 2015 - 2016

Francisca Alhers

InkCanvasCharcoalAcrylic
110 ⨯ 110 ⨯ 4 cm
ConditionExcellent
€ 3.810

Villa del Arte Galleries

• About the artwork
  Years of collecting books, travel archives and studying art in Europe, went hand in hand with visiting historical monuments and grand palaces, remnants of past golden eras. This nostalgic raking over the past encompasses these inspirational elements, weaved together with her own curiosity in loose charcoal lines depicting Baroque, whimsical and once decadent interiors.
  For many years Ahlers was content with the simplicity of black charcoal on white canvas, adding carefully curated splashes of colour to her otherwise spontaneous work. Recently this has given way to her new need to explore colour further with vibrant acrylics bringing waves of new life to her familiar majestic salons and solitary figures that are so important to her narrative. With spontaneous gestures, nostalgic moments are immortalized in time.
  “The rooms in my paintings are small trips to the past. I look for an alternative reality through a fictional scenario, represented by a dystopian era of booms and declines.”
  Francisca Ahlers has exhibited internationally with Villa del Arte Galleries for over a decade in Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, NYC, Chicago and Miami. She now lives and works in Chile.
• About the artist

  Chilean artist Francisca Ahlers wants to transport you to a different time and place: the romance of time gone by seeps into her pieces and infuses them with an alluring nature.

  It’s easy to get lost in the detail of her works, which often depict vast rooms or spaces brimming with the decorative – rich patterns, textures and objects. It is not unusual to spy a peacock or a cat, chandeliers, expensive porcelain and extravagant rugs amongst luxuriant wallpaper and lavishly tiled floors.

   

  Ahlers uses the medium of charcoal, and, in some works, acrylic. The contrast of mediums and of colour with darkness only serves to heighten the ethereal quality that’s present. It is as if they are slowly fading into nothing, into the past. 

   

  

  Remnants of the masters are prevalent within her spaces; Picasso and Vermeers, and also the whimsical illustrations of Quentin Blake, Ludwig Bemelmans and Lauren Child. But though inspiration is pulled from many corners, Ahlers works are, on the whole, something completely different. They are original and new, and refreshing to the eye.  

   

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