Artwork created during an artistic residency at Atelier CPS in Lisbon.

Linocut with 4 matrices.

JUAN SEBASTIAN CARNERO, A MASTER OF CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING

As an engraver and illustrator, Argentine artist Juan Sebastian Carnero (b. 1981, Buenos Aires) has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since 2001. With a focus on color management in relief printing, he has won several acquisition awards, held solo exhibitions in Argentina, Spain, and Portugal, and has been invited to showcase his work in countries such as China, Denmark, France, Italy, and Mexico.

Carnero recently exhibited with great success at the CPS Gallery in CCB. The exhibition showcased the editions produced at Atelier CPS during his residency in Lisbon, a city that inspired his work. In this collection of individually printed prints, the artist's style emerges, with a geometrically refined figuration that borders on abstraction. He pays meticulous attention to detail, surfaces, perspective, and the chromatic harmonies between cool and warm tones, creating a strong visual impact and poetic effect. The connection to Lisbon is clearly evident in the linocuts presented today: "By the Sea" and "Seven Winds."

In "Seven Winds," Carnero employs the technique of lost matrix, also known as the "Picasso method" as it was invented by the great Spanish artist. This is a highly complex technique that Carnero applies with his exceptional talent.

On the other hand, the artwork "By the Sea" was created using four different matrices.

These works establish a poetic and surreal atmosphere with a touch of metaphysical art. The enigmatic static figures in "Seven Winds" and the symbolic geometry in a labyrinthine explosion of suggestive and ambiguous forms evoke the work of Dutch artist Escher (1898-1972), a master of graphic art and one of the leading figures in contemporary art.

It is a lesson in printmaking that we see continuing in the elaborate and fascinating universe of a young creator of our time.

Maria João Fernandes - International Association of Art Critics (AICA)