Campo Expandido VII B, Basel, 2007
Photo, Edition 1 of 8
35.4 x 50 inches | 90 x 127 cm
“I study a lot of philosophy, to connect my work to philosophical thought, and by extension to bring the philosophical debate back to a collective level. And I study a lot of art criticism, to make my work coincide with what I call the “umbilical cord of art”. My work is certainly connected to the past, but in an evolutionary sense. I go from the past to the present, not from the present to the past.
I work to ensure that art increasingly comes out of the buildings where it is locked up today, to flood the city with its purifying breeze. I work so that cities become open-air laboratories in which to experiment with new ways of thinking and establishing a relationship with the world of ideas, in which the individual and the community can move intellectually within that shadow that is the modern age.”
- Raymundo Sesma
Amidst the loud and chaotic expressionism of contemporary art, Raymundo Sesma’s paintings stand out for their subtlety. His works, characterized by fine tonalities and mottled surfaces that merge naturalistic and nonobjective forms, offer a reserved presence. The dry, rough surfaces of his paintings evoke stucco or ancient rock walls, with thin, crusty ridges that allude to cave paintings. Central to his work is the integration of drawing, painting, and surface, with images that appear to naturally "grow" into intriguing shapes. Sesma creates tension by juxtaposing geometric and organic forms. His subtle and restrained approach signals not conservatism, but a call for gracefulness and contemplative imagery.
Sesma strives to create a dialogue between the landscape and the expanded field of painting. Over time, he has moved beyond the traditional confines of the canvas, utilizing architectural surfaces to introduce tridimensional values. This approach allows his work to achieve both physical and intellectual depth, transforming it into a means of communication. By employing various media, Sesma articulates the complex interactions between the landscape, architecture, community, history, traditions, future, and the observer.