Miniature Paintings/ Small Works.
Fernando Carpaneda produces series depicting Gothic scene
Based in New York, Carpaneda has extensive production focused on underground culture.
Article by Devana Babu for Brazilian Newspaper Correio Braziliense.
09/02/2019 06:30AM
The portrait of Luc Venturim painted by Fernando Carpaneda is the size of a matchbox. The boy who looks at us with a blasé countenance in the tiny portrait - black clothes and hair, a silver crucifix on his ear, a cemetery in the background -, painted in acrylic on canvas with brush number zero, has a lot in common as the creator of the work. In addition to being visual artists and great friends, both are adepts of Gothic culture.
The Gothic scene is a part of the underground movement derived from punk, a kind of obscure, subculture, emerged in the late 70s. Music, art, literature, architecture and the occult are some of the favorites interests shared by people like Luc, Carpaneda and their friends. And these friends are precisely the theme of the new series that has been produced by Carpaneda for about a year, in New York.
One of the first goths in the underground scene in Brasilia, in the late 80s, and known for portraying this universe in his figurative paintings, often with doses of homoeroticism and violence, Carpaneda has now started to depict places and people he met and in the underground goth scene over the years, in miniature paintings. “I `m working on Gothic series portraits to look like, funeral cards, which are usually very small”, says Carpaneda about the format.
Regarding the content, he says: “The Gothic movement is an important part of my life, as well as the punk movement. And I also wanted to register some of my friends, who were and are important in my life until today, "says the artist." I painted Luc because he is an important part of the gothic movement in Brasilia, and I knew him well. ”Explains Carpaneda.
Gothic Paintings
"Gothic culture has always interested me. I joined the Gothic movement in the 80's. I have always loved Siouxie and The Banshees and bands linked to the Gothic movement; such as Bauhaus, The Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, etc. So far, Gothic culture and Punk culture are the biggest influence on my work."
Fernando Carpaneda.