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Choices                      Issa Ma. Benítez Dueñas

In spite of the literal character of the title that joins together this series of paintings by Trini, it should be acknowledged that this judgement is also a matter of a decision yet to be made. While it is true that the act of painting is always the result of a series of precise chain decisions, what surprises most in Trini’s work is that first decision which generates the chain: the fundamental choice off painting.

In this sense, each one of these works is a reminder of the strategic function the practice of painting can have when that practice itself is set forth in an open manner. The fact that the conceptual basis of this group of paintings is precisely a reflection on the act of making choices is a strong argument in this sense . Trini’s paintings are not just expressions of the artist’s decision to paint, but they themselves are structured as unresolved pieces that require from the viewer the responsability of interpretation. Trini’s work has always utilized illusionism as a strategy of intoducing the viewer into its game-here I think about all those street scenes, which always take place in the space between canvas and viewer. In other words, it is not so much that the painting draws us inward, but rather that it projects itself outward. However, in this case it seems it suspends this outward projection leaving it in fact, not completely decided: in Aplazar (“To postpone”) the scene is worrying because it is unfinished. There is no doubt we are standing on the shining asphalt, but this positioning is just as precariuous as the van which cannot stop doing what? braking or starting? Will it take one of those roads which open up ahead? Here nothing is certain.

The alternative -both conceptual and figurative- is the only constant that unifies this series of paintings. All of them open roads inwards and outwards the canvas: in Predecidido (“Predecided”) the choice has already been made, in Redecidido (“Redecided”) a sudden change of mind is presented for the other as an annoyance, an interruption of his own movement. As a result, the decision of the other becomes an accident for one, making us react, and forcing us to continue the chain of choices. Thus, it is very important to take into account the painter’s ability to literally freeze, these moments of decision, as in the case of Detener (“To halt”). This suspension, within which we as fortuitous viewers find ourselves irremediably trapped, alludes to us directly in Decisiones Cruzadas (“Crossed Decisions”). Just as in Aplazar, but probably with greater clarity, the painting opens a wide intersections, which extends to the place from which we look at the man who has halted in the process of deciding, he himself, where to turn to: Is he waiting for us? or are we waiting for him? Union (“Union”) deals with these fortuitous moments which seem to  occur in order to make decisions easier for us. Just as Suave (“Soft”), it is about letting ourselves flow, to choose not to choose.

In spite of the localized topics of each one of the paintings, all of them seem to be situated precisely between decision as will and chance, which we inevitably have to take into account. Formally painting itself, and especially that by Trini, is eloquent in this sense: it is neither about photography’s fixity, nor about that of hyperrealistic painting, it is not about chance or lack of control of more expressionist painting or process art. Trini stands precisely for that kind of painting which, when it is on the point of freezing representation, recovers fluidity and movement. The fundamental recovery of time undestood as the very act of elapsing, of a passing which may not be fixed and which may be decided upon once and for all only at the price of fragmenting it. Reference to Gerhard Richter is imminent, but one has to think about a case much older than that, because it was Velazquez who brought up this fundamental problem of painting in Las Meninas (1656)  /”The Maids of Honor”/ in order to solve masterfully the issue of temporality in Las Hilanderas (about 1657) /”The Spinners”/. This kind of painting, which in its flow seems to fade away, more than a style is the result of the painter’s ability to recognize the limits of his task and from there go beyond them. Hence the importance of Trini’s choice: to continue the painting tradition because of its impossibility, precisely because each painting is a new decision -a decision by the one creating it and a decision by the one viewing it. For painting can be an open work.

Art Nexus 
José L. Barrios
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Decisiones 
Issa M. Benítez D.
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Trini y su figuración del movimiento 
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Trini la fugacidad permanente 
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Luz 
Español | English
Luis Carlos Emerich

Dos 
Francisca Rivero-Lake Cortina
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Revuelo 
Guillermo Sepúlveda
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La estética de lo cotidiano 
Santiago Toca
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La realidad afianzada en el instante 
Esteban Velarde
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Déjà vu  
Gerardo Villarreal López
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Biografía 
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Dossier


Enlaces

www.doctorhugo.org
www.gerhard-richter.com
www.jordiboldo.com
www.museodemujeres.com
samvangheluwepinxit.blogspot.mx