“Caronte”

Caronte (“Charon”), acrylic on fabric, 1985, by the Argentine artist Ernesto Deira

Ernesto Deira was a representative of the Argentine New Figuration movement and a founding member of the Otra Figuración (“Other Figuration”). This movement sought to break with tradition without following the prevailing informalist and abstract artistic current of the time.

The artist takes aspects from informalism and expressionism that allow him to play with materials, forms and colour to distort the human figure and represent Man’s most destructive aspects.

In his search to convey restlessness and anguish, Deira presents us with a work that appears chaotic, although it is the result of an exhaustive compositional process.

This can all be seen in his work Caronte. Here, the artist has used the colour red to merge the background and the figures. We can just about distinguish these figures thanks to fine lines drawn around them by the artist, along with specific changes in colour. Other geometric shapes intermingle on the canvas next to this large area of red, forming part of the human figures depicted.

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  Caronte, 1985

  Charon
  Ernesto Deira
  Acrylic on fabric
  200 x 160 cm

  Ralli Collection

Silvia Sánchez
Curator