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Pedro Paricio's Tulips In Detail Pedro Paricio's Tulips In Detail
17 May 2024

Pedro Paricio's Tulips

In Detail
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One of art’s most powerful functions is to direct its audience to beauty in the everyday: In Plain Sight celebrates work by six different artists who explore their subject through unique approaches.
 
A key theme is the representation of flowers. Pedro Paricio, Paul Cummins, Dominic Harris and David Hockney all depict the subject matter in very different ways. Seen in a shared space, these pieces are in dialogue: they compete with one another, highlighting each artists’ distinct vision. 
 
Below discover more about Pedro Paricio’s Tulips
If you are interested in adding to your collection speak to an art consultant today - info@halcyongallery.com
Pedro Paricio’s Tulips (2023) is a pure expression of the core theme that is explored in In Plain Sight. Paricio...
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Still Life with Tulips, Chrysanthemums, Narcissi, Roses, Irises and other Flowers in a Glass Vase, 1608-1610. Oil on copper, 35 x 25.2 cm. Private collection.

Pedro Paricio’s Tulips (2023) is a pure expression of the core theme that is explored in In Plain Sight. Paricio has taken the common tulip and transformed it into something monumental, vibrant and unique. This painting is a true representation of the artist's sensitivity to the world around him and his ability to appropriate and manipulate everyday objects for the purpose of art. Paricio’s approach is not to represent his subject as it can be seen in nature but to transform it with his artistic language which he summarises as "a pop look but classic spirit".

 

Tulips are a traditional subject in the history of art, not least represented by Dutch 17th-century painters who were fascinated by the flower that had recently been introduced from Turkey. Jan Brueghel the Elder’s (1568 – 1625) paintings of tulips are exceptional examples of this tradition.

Paricio’s Tulips is in dialogue with these more traditional still-life paintings - it references this tradition through the isolated view...
Pedro Paricio
Tulips, 2024
Acrylic on linen
160 x 114 cm

Paricio’s Tulips is in dialogue with these more traditional still-life paintings - it references this tradition through the isolated view granted to its subject, though it presents the artists alternative contemporary vision. Scale is perhaps the most obvious way in which it juxtaposes traditional flower paintings. Whilst the Old Masters generally represented the subject as life-sized, serving as the most convincing alternative to having rare and expensive floral in ones home year round, Paricio makes the flowers monumental.

Another key distinction is the use of bright colours and pale blue background which radiate light. This contrasts with the Old Master tradition that captures flowers in a chiaroscuro effect of contrasting light: the dark room reflecting the interiors of candle-lit homes. Today, unlike in the 17th century, tulips are some of the most commonly sold flowers. However, Paricio makes them something that the contemporary viewer can't ignore with their punchy, bold vibrancy.

Although his work displays an idiosyncratic style, Paricio takes influence from a range of sources throughout art history; the work of Pablo Picasso, for example - whose impact on the artist is thoroughly documented and was most fervently explored in the exhibition Paricio . Picasso (2019). The multi-faceted treatment of the vase is routed in the movement that Picasso pioneered, Cubism.

The piece also shares significant affinities with David Hockney’s vibrant interpretation of Cubism, exemplified by works such as Two Pembroke...
David Hockney, Two Pembroke Studio Chairs, 1984. Lithograph in colours on HMP handmade paper, 40.3 x 48.6 cm. Edition of 98 (+ 18 AP).

The piece also shares significant affinities with David Hockney’s vibrant interpretation of Cubism, exemplified by works such as Two Pembroke Studio Chairs (1984). Hockney is certainly a major influence on Paricio’s work and it probably isn’t a coincidence that the giant of 20th-century British art also represented tulips in several well-known pieces. British Pretty Tulips (1970) is a particularly beautiful example, with its blue vase and rhythmical pattern, which may well have been a point of reference for Paricio.  

At 148 New Bond Street, Paricio’s Tulips is hung on the same wall as Hockney’s iPad drawings of flowers which were created in 2010. Hockney’s representation of the subject in a digital medium renders them with bold, unnaturalistic but vibrant technicolour, an approach that Paricio recreates in his monumental artwork through the traditional medium of paint on canvas.

Paricio’s Tulips, like so much of his work, instigates a complex dialogue with artists throughout history and takes influence from a vast array of sources. However, the final product is a style that is distinctly his. The illusion of solidity casts these flower buds almost in relief from the canvas - their vibrant energy is suspended out towards the viewer, seemingly frozen at the moment of bloom. Paricio takes the quotidian and transforms it into something miraculous.  

 

If you are interested in adding Pedro Paricio to your collection speak to one of our art consultants today - email us info@halcyongallery.com

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