VIEWING ROOM "PHENOTYPE II"

Phenotype II

The painting is technically executed in an extremely detailed style. It involved long and arduous days of work in which patience and concentration prevailed. As a painter I had to use a very complex technique.

The clean gaze is a weapon of seduction and one of the characteristics of Phenotype II.

It is a psychological portrait of a character that, using a hyper-realistic pictorial technique, shows in a very detailed way a kind of physical map of the model.

She shows herself directly and objectively to the viewer through her face, but in her greatest need, she needs to be heard, inviting us in her silence to penetrate her inner existence, and read the circumstances and events that have made her who she is.

The purpose of Phenotype II, speaks about how our physical features are influenced or modified by our environment and the circumstances that surround us. The character portrayed is playing a role for this purpose, but it has nothing to do with the model, a friend named Carmen who posed to characterize this idea.

The clean atmosphere contrasts with all the extreme hyperrealistic detail on her face, but the character doesn't ask for her exterior to be seen; she wants to converse through her existential vitality, allowing us to observe her introspection, her feelings, and her emotions.

Phenotype I has been my most hyperrealistic painting to date and was the first-place winner in the first edition of the MODPORTRAIT 2013 International Portrait Competition, organized by the ArteLibre Gallery and the European Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona (MEAM). The work belongs to the museum's collection.

–Edgar Mendoza