Hilos de Agua, Intervals, Grid 5 1999

Curator: Cesar Paternosto’s mixed-media work, "Hilos de Agua, Intervals, Grid 5," completed in 1999, is our focus now. Acrylic paint features prominently in this exploration of geometric abstraction. What catches your eye initially? Editor: The sheer quiet of it. It's like a minimalist hymn. A handful of lines shivering on this vast white plane... makes me think of poetry etched in frost. There's an elegant austerity here, a radical reduction. Curator: Paternosto's engagement with geometric abstraction aims to reveal the structural foundations of art. Here, the seemingly simple lines and the grid offer a framework to discuss modernism's tenets. We see how he reduces representational forms to their bare essence. This reflects a wider dialogue on the means of art production and reception in that period. Editor: Yes, there is something defiant about this much restraint, isn't it? The way these thin lines are almost consumed by the material expanse behind them suggests a meditation on disappearance itself. And these different color threads almost give the impression that it is painted on the warp and weft of linen. What do you know of the labor involved in a work this delicate? Curator: It invites precisely such contemplation, challenging the traditionally held notions of art as distinct from craft by highlighting the laborious act of precise execution and application of materials. In terms of his process, his hand and intellect are evident throughout each gesture. Editor: So, how does a piece like this play within a larger context of consumption? Is it meant as a commentary on commercialism? Curator: It critiques consumer culture implicitly, in many ways; it presents the antithesis of excess. Its contemplative quality serves as an invitation to slow down. To perceive nuance. Editor: True. It demands attention, doesn't it? Maybe it’s more like a visual koan than an artwork. A subtle disturbance meant to awaken us. Thanks to your materialist lens, now the art piece appears to have new depth, in a very unusual and abstract way! Curator: And, on the other hand, your impressions on its meditative qualities enriched it by offering it a fresh personal perspective.