CARLOS MERCADO ABSTRACT Inspired in the work of Franz and Ives Klein This body of work was produced during the initial months of the lock down due to the pandemic. This tragedy created an opportunity to become aware of being in a bigger contact with my inner world. This new reality we are living will bring challenges and new opportunities. To evaluate what is truly important and what is not. My canvas evolves with no pre-conceived idea of what the end result will be. However, there will be a starting point; an emotion, a memory, could also serve as a point of departure. This process creates an unpredictable tension between the conscious and subconscious that resolved at its conclusion. I attempt to create gestural stokes that are authentic, honest and organic . The intention is always to strive for a pure essence of abstraction. The luxury of complete freedom in the abstract form is what inspires me. Emotions are expressed through the language of color, composition, form and strong gestural brush stokes. My large scale canvases are the culmination of a lifetime of creative vocation. The pursuit of a creative life started at an early age. Growing up in Puerto Rico in the late 1950s, inspiration was all around me. The rich complexity of my culture ,the natural beauty of the countryside, and my early exposure to art all had an influence. This spurred my development along with international masters, Yves Klein, Franz Klein and Andy Warhol . A recent visit to Paris exposed me to Pierre Soulages art at the Louvre Museum. I was taken aback at the force, simplicity and gravity of his strength and contemporary vision. I was drawn into the canvases and in awe of those intense and strong strokes and his use of black. I draw inspiration from the mid-twentieth century New York school of abstract expressionists, , Hans Hoffman, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko. French artist, Yves Klein is also a strong influence.
