Arguing myself

Jesus Olivan. "Discutiendo conmigo mismo". 2012. Oil on  canvas 130 x 97

Some months ago I visited an exhibition about Cindy Sherman. Sherman photographs of hershelf with different clothes were shown. She characterized as different people. As in the self protraits by  Rembrandt different emotions were displayed. I remembered "the social brain" by Gazzaniga, the connection of different modules set together to analyze the environement and to act. So,  I decided to represent myself in two different emotional states. One of the persons is very upset and the other is telling him that it does not worth.

A portrait of a lady

Jesus Olivan. "Catalina". 2012. Oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm

I decided to face the portrait of my friend Catalina. I liked her relaxed attitude. She looked very friendly  although a little bit distant. The yellowish highlights contributed to create a somewhat unrealistic atmosphere. I hope she likes it.

Working in the shopping mall

Jesus Olivan,"Interior holandés". 2011. Oil on Ccanvas. 130 x 97 cm

The title (``Dutch interior'')  makes reference to the Dutch interior paintings where women remained inside the house.

Our heroin is seated in a shopping mall, probably looking for accommodation or work. All around, people shop or sly look.

With an almost classical posture tries to find his place in society.

The alentejo, a landscape

Jesus  Olivan. "Alentejo cerca de Juromenha". 2011. Oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm.

I travel to Alentejo, Portugal,  several times by year.

It is a region sparsely populated with a wonderful landscape. Olive trees, cork oaks, vineyards and fields of wheat or corn, pasture with cows, sheep or horses are for the visitor as a land of milk and honey.

Alentejo can be very hard for living in. I wanted to show the difficulties of living there in a day without sunshine. As I painted I used to read Saramago's novel "levantado do chao". Some of the elements, the absence of people, the gates of the large estates are shown in the picture.

Musicians

Jesus Olivan "Clave de sol, clave de fa".2011. Oil on canvas. 130 x 97 cm.

I tried to represent the cooperation of different people to achieve a common goal. Each person's attitude toward the target is different. Some of them are focused in music, others are more attentive to the correctness in the implementation.

I decided to isolate the characters from his environment, displaying them in the absence of spatial cues.The title refers to the music they perform and in some sense to the many spirals in the image.

The subject dealt, the interactions between characters and the absence of background, create a baroque-inspired picture.