It’s not usual to see a realistic painter who approaches the human form with a certain level of mysticism, or poetic attitude to say the least. Most of the contemporary realistic painters I can recall, have given me the impression that they simply use the human form as an object to study to the fullest or simply a challenge that leaves room for no speculation, and as a result, giving me the impression that all they pursue is nothing more than ways to feed their alter egoes. Fortunately, today I’ve found the work of a realistic painter, Marta Penter, and artist and psychologist from Brazil who has showed me my own definition of what realism should aim for, which is nothing more than exalting what’s above the surface and enticing our imagination to a higher level of consciousness. Realism should be more than perfect symmetry and anatomical accuracy.

Thus said, I personally enjoy her approach to the human form, I like how she’s not afraid to approach distortion, her paintings make me feel as if I’m observing her subjects through a viewfinder, looking for the best angle before pushing the shutter button. Is finally a relieve to see the human form being placed within an environment other than a bedroom.
On another note, I found it interesting how her paintings reminded me of a great film I saw recently called “Adrift” Somehow I can’t help associating the cinematography of that film with the paintings of Marta Penter, it’s like they both share the same language, the visual language of Brazil I suppose.

Usualmente, las pinturas realistas no me dejan muy satisfecho que digamos; la mayoría de las veces que veo una pintura realista quedo mas aburrido que cualquier otra cosa debido a que me da la impresión de que usan los elementos de una manera superficial sin darme la oportunidad de especular y darle libertad a mi imaginación. Afortunadamente, el trabajo de Marta Penter, quien aparte de ser pintora tambien es psicologa, me ha ayudado a encontrar un punto de referencia sobre lo que para mi debe sobresalir en una obra realista.
Particularmente, me gusta como ella se acerca a la figura humana, para exaltarla desde ángulos donde hay campo para la distorcion, es como si de alguna manera ella nos diera una cámara y nos indicara como encontrar el angulo para tomar la mejor foto. Finalmente, al encontrarme con el trabajo de esta interesante pintora,no puedo evitar asociar una película que vi recientemente llamada Adrift (titulo en EEUU) y que de alguna manera comparte un mismo idioma visual, y quizas ese idioma visual no es otro mas que el hermoso país de Brasil.