BERNARDUCCI MEISEL GALLERY
37 West 57 Street . New York 10019 . 212.593.3757
bernarducci@meiselgallery.com . bernarduccimeisel.com
BERNARDO TORRENS: NEW PAINTINGS
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30 October – 26 November 2014
Bernarducci Meisel Gallery is pleased to present Bernardo Torrens’s solo exhibition of new paintings of the figure. Each painting features one of several models who are recurring in the artists’ work; Melania, Sandra, Jesi, and Lourdes. Torrens highlights the various aspects of their unique personalities with a certain facial expression or situation. Each composition is uniquely composed and intricately painted focusing solely on the personality of the model on a neutral background.
Torrens’s Sandra in Pool is an exception as it is the only one that provides a sense of place. The Spanish actress lounges topless, with her arms spread, in a backyard pool. As her hair is pulled away under a swim cap, her handsome face is revealed and we are confronted with her bold and natural beauty. Her strong, lean, and tan arms are contrasted by the linear cool blue tiles of the pool. Her skin appears as soft as the sunlight that falls on her, evoking a subtle chiaroscuro that highlights each of the droplets of water on our swimmer. Here Torrens exposes not only his model but his talent.
Bernardo Torrens, Sandra in Pool, 2014, acrylic on panel, 28 ¾ x 57 ¾ inches
In contrast, Three Graces (2013-2014), is a large-scale composition of the allegory of the Three Graces and solely focuses on the models’ bodies. The interaction between them is intimate as they block the viewer from entering their circle of embrace. Each side of the female form, except for the front of the body, is explored in this stunning painting. In grayscale their excellent physiques are reminiscent of marble sculptures; especially the sculpture by Antonio Canova (1757 – 1822) of the Three Graces (ca.
1810), versions of which are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hermitage Museum. The empty background brings all the attention to the figures of the composition.
Torrens lives and works in Madrid, Spain. He has had several solo exhibitions there as well as in Milan, Italy and other major cities. In addition, his work was featured in traveling museum exhibitions such as Hyperrealism 1962 – 2012 (2013 – Present, Kunsthalle Tuebingen, Germany, Museo Thyssen Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, Saarland Museum, Saarbreucken, Germany, and now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Bilbao, Spain) as well as Photorealism Revisited (2014 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, OK and the Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown, OH). He has also worked on commission to produce portraits of notable Spanish dignitaries such as the former president of the Spanish Parliament, Felix Pons.

