The mass phenomenon is very complex and instigating. Its several aspects have been studied over the years in an attempt to decode the deepest reasons of these manifestations of humanity. Only in the mass it is possible to men to free themselves from the fear of contact with others. In the ideal mass, everybody is equal, the compressed bodies are one and there’s no individual with its own differences. Arthur Arnold, when researching the abstraction and the collective unconscious, also turned himself to the subject of the human masses. He is interested in the group identity that dilutes the individual through the man’s behavior that gathers crowds by various reasons, building a giant block that possesses a single behavior. With pasty spatulas, scratches and some brushstrokes, Arthur turns individuals into paintings. His works reflect the researches he’s done, while the figures arise dissolved inside the crowd of human forms without any identity. In some canvas we can see faces, raised arms, and united bodies suggesting movements and callings. But gradually in other works, the figure is diluted and what predominates is the mass. Color is a strong element and even when white is used it shows all of its force and purpose.

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Arthur has his production turned into painting and to a thought on how this choice relates to his researches, his way of understanding and feeling the world today. Everything that interests him, his ideas, and choices is reflected in his works, which provides a call for new dialogues. The abstractions propose an opening, a change that is being incorporated into the forms, in a living process where the colors have a louder voice. By giving up the figure, the artist seeks a new way of building, including not the record anymore, but the doubt. And in this moment, the questions will be answered as they awaken something else inside the spectator. Contemporary art is very interested in these questions and embraces all the answers.

 

 

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Isabel Sanson Portella

curator