Ariel Mlynarzewicz (Argentinian, b. 1964)
Intimidad en Domingo (Intimacy on a Sunday),2004
Oil on canvas
On Loan from Crespo Ortega Family Collection (Camila Crespo ’15, Mariana Crespo ’20)
Ariel Mlynarzewicz’s work expresses private, family life in chromatic figuration. Intimidad en Domingo or Intimacy on a Sunday illustrates three disconnected figures that are nevertheless encapsulated in what appears to be a singular space. Within this encased, singular space, a family of three spend their Sunday in separate, private spheres of existence. The laid-back woman on the couch, the young girl in a back bend, and the deeply focused boy with his drawer of colored pencils and sketchbook each exist within their own bubble. A mix of both separation and cohesion is depicted through color as well as the distortion of perspective. The floorboards have been transformed into a colorful interplay of distinct planes of space. In an almost Surrealist fashion, the floor seems to extend past the canvas edge, into infinity.
Mlynarzewicz, a multidisciplinary visual artist known as a draughtsman, painter, and engraver. After representing Argentina at the Havana Biennial, he obtained a bursary from the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, Poland to further his studies in engraving. His work has been included in numerous solo exhibitions, including those at the Praxis Gallery, New York; Galería Municipal de Arte, Valparaíso, Chile; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dom Polonini, Varsovia, Cracovia and Lodz, Poland, amongst others. He is recipient of several awards, including second in engraving at the Salón Nacional de Grabado y Dibujo; the Banco provincial de Santa Fe; the Best Foreign Entry at the Bienal Internacional de Arte de Valparaiso, Chile; and the Grand Prize for engraving at the Salon Nacional in Argentina, amongst others. He taught engraving at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires and is currently part of the teaching team for the Friends of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Mlynarzewicz’s diverse repertoire include illustrating the novel La Historia by Martín Caparrós to painting the Royal Theatre lobby ceiling in Buenos Aires.
There are two other works on loan from the Crespo Ortega Family in the VAC and in the Wall Center.
Grace Cho ’21