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(1988 - 1990) Second Expressionism 
(1992 - 2002) Third Expressionism 
(2002
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MERELLO
Art News. Painting. Exhibitions News 21st.
Art News 21. Exhibitions News.
The Natural Condition.
(130 x 81 cm)
Mix media on canvas
CONTEMPORARY ART. ARTISTS. NEWS.-
(81 x 100 cm)
Mix media on canvas
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Luna sobre la Alhambra
de Granada
CONTEMPORARY ART. ARTISTS. NEWS.-
Sombrero de paja.
(40 x 30 cm)
Mix media on wood
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CONTEMPORARY ART. ARTISTS. NEWS.-
Luz vital.
(40 x 30 cm)
Mix media on wood
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CONTEMPORARY ART. ARTISTS. NEWS.-
Atenea
(40 x 30 cm)
Mix media on wood
Mujer y pajaritos.
Pencil on paper
Merello.-Studio.-Paintings
CONTEMPORARY ART.-
Merello.-Contemporary-art.-Figures.-Artists-and-painters.
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Art News 21. Exhibitions News.
Prussian Still Life.
(92 x 73 cm)
Mix media on canvas
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Art News 21. Exhibitions News.
The Letter.
(92 x 73 cm)
Mix media on canvas
José Manuel Merello
Art News 21. Exhibitions News.
Blue Toledo.
(92 x 73 cm)
Mix media on canvas
ART NEWS. MODERN PAINTING NEWS. EXHIBITIONS NEWS.
Art Painting News 21. Exhibitions News.
Indigo Still Life.
(73 x 92 cm)
Mix media on wood
Art Painting News 21. Exhibitions News.
Boy in his Party.
(130 x 81 cm)
Mix media on canvas
Art Painting News 21. Exhibitions News.
The Painting Lesson of the Children.
(73 x 92 cm)
Mix media on canvas
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© José Manuel Merello Arvilla.-
EXPRESSIONISM NEWS. SURREALISM NEWS.
ARTISTS PAINTERS.
Modern Art
Gallery. 21 Contemporary Galleries of Modern art paintings.
Thoughts about art and painting.
BLACK IS
WHITE
"There are painters, decorators, illustrators, designers... who
deny the use of black because they believe it subtracts color or makes it
dirty. On the other hand, they do not deny white.
They don't realize that
in truth, mathematically, physically, or however you want to see it, black
is just another shade of white. It is, in short, yet another white. In the
infinite scale of greys, that goes from the most extreme white to the
deepest black, where to draw a fragile line that sentences that from there
the black begins?
It is absurd and, from my experience as a painter, I
can say that black is completely essential in the formation of an infinite
number of colours. Apart from a referee who coordinates them in
extraordinary harmonies. Exactly the same as white.
For me it is very
clear. Black is white." © José Manuel Merello
" I am
not an avant-garde artist. My art is contemporary, literally speaking: a
product of its time. Vanguard, on the contrary, represents the most modern
innovations – neither better nor worse; like the sharp point of a spear
which opens up new paths. However, that sharp point needs all the power and
weight of the rest of the spear, the weight of Art History. Without all this
History, there is no push to open up new ways. Vanguard Art represents
freshness, novelty, surprise, the truth and the fake. A risky and
fascinating bet. However, what interests me is to draw from the classic and
contemporary traditions, deepen into the walked path, and remain vigilant –
like many other artists – to provide vanguard artists a solid foundation.
Much in the same way as an older brother holds his youngest brother’s hand
with fascination, as the intrepid child peeks, with wonderful daring and
without fear, into the abyss. I need to keep an eye on the Avant-garde
Movement because it keeps me young as artist, it cleanses me, it clears up
my spirit, so that my view doesn’t sour. I am a part of the body of the
spear and, from that vantage point, I observe with fascination the young art
sharp poking at the same time that I draw from the magnificent work of the
masters of all times, the powerful legacy that sustains us. I am not part of
the sparkles – sometimes ephemeral – of the spearhead. Each one of us has
his role, and mine, nowadays, is not in the vanguard." © José Manuel Merello
"ABOUT JOAQUÍN SOROLLLA".:
Today it does not seem to be too modern speaking about Joaquín Sorolla, the
great Valencian painter. But I always have refused to see in him an
antiquated, impressionistic painter, luminous and little else more.
Otherwise, Sorolla is one of the big ones, a titan, a Colossus of the
painting. He maybe couldn’t be compared neither to a Velázquez nor to a
Picasso, it would be very daring, but yes I see him at a height of a Cezanne
or a Manet. Well, it is true that the work of the Valencian one is very
unequal in quality and is paying for decades for this discontinuity in such
way that only very few people can rescue between his painting those linens
which catapult him towards the Olympus: Sorolla's white linens." © José
Manuel Merello
"Abstract Painting and Surrealist Painting, apart from being essential and
marvelous in themselves, these days also fulfill an invaluable pedagogical
function for any artist. The have now become part of Classical Art and are
the Artistic Heritage for Spiritual Learning and Artistic technique. They
are like gymnastics for the unaware and for the eye, providing places where
almost all feelings and spiritual emotions can be hatched to finally lead to
build this immeasurable and grandiose thing we call THE ART of PAINTING." ©
José Manuel Merello
"A good
drawing cannot in any way be unfavorably compared with a good painting. It
is more, beneath every picture is an essential underlying drawing that
sustains it, a skeleton that mobilizes it and gives it form. Any painting
lacking of this base crumbles and appears flimsy." © José Manuel Merello
" The
drawing does not remain defined by the line, not even the painting remains
defined by the color. The painting is still saved, and this is partly what
currently defines it, of being able to be assimilated and comprising in a
monitor or a photo. On the other hand the drawing does really is asimilable
by these means. Leaving aside fetishisms, it does not matter to me to have
an original drawing or a photo or an identical poster of him. It is the same
thing and the drawing can be enjoyed identically, as it happens despite of
reading a good book in different editions, or seeing the same photo revealed
for the second or tenth time. When it is not in game neither the fetishism
nor the plasticity, all these supports take us to the nobility - or misery -
of the work. But in painting the plasticity is always in game, the
plasticity, the morbidity, the opaqueness or the transparence, the brilliant
or dull surface... qualities that are impossible to be transmitted by means
of a monitor of computer, a TV or a poster. The digital technique, far from
ruining the arts, it only does to demonstrate the singularities of these
other techniques, and the painting gains the garland due to currently it is
impossible to enjoy completely The Meninas in an image, impossible to feel
the powerful sensation of gap of the stay where Velázquez does, impossibly
to perceive the pearly rind of the pictorial layer of the picture, useless
to turned oneself and to see sideway to be able to feel the delicate nodes
and stretch marks of the painting of the genius. And let's not say anything
about pictures of Tàpies, or of Lucian Freud, or of Jasper Johns... The
color and the disposition of the forms can suggest us very much, of course,
but they remain far away, they are not enough to express the plasticity of
the picture. This is the Painting." © José Manuel Merello
" In
painting and in drawing, technically speaking, things can be wrong done if
they do not know how to make them correctly, but the bad made things must be
"perfectly wrong made". This way the result will always be good. " (summer
2004) © José Manuel Merello
"Art
History is the emotional and spiritual History of humankind. It is a
remembering of its most sublime feelings materialized in works of art that
transcend time. Altamira and Lascaux are primitive examples of this human
desire of expressing its emotions. In my opinion, there is not any artistic
era superior to another one in its initial impetus to create a material
proof of an emotion or a spiritual pleasure. On the other hand, I believe
there have been art eras superior to others since the human being has
improved its technique. In the same way that scientific progress always goes
up, artistic progress, which needs technology to advance, evolves with an
increasing trend. However, this evolution is not continuous, since it
depends on two factors: technique and spiritual emotion. Art is not just a
feeling. Art is the feeling being materialized, incarnated, sculpted,
written with skill and technique. The cavemen had only a few tools at their
reach; consequently their art is more primitive than Baroque Art, to give an
example. The problem lies in the fact that technique and emotion do not
always move along parallel lines. As a result, we can sometimes find art
periods with a greater and purer emotional and spiritual impulse, even
though they relied on inferior technique. On the other hand, we sometimes
can find other periods with better means, in which the art is weaker due to
the human soul was soured, repressed, or manipulated. When the human spirit
undergoes a sublime and free period, accompanied by a superior technique,
then we will refer to this period as a Golden Art Age." © José Manuel
Merello
"Nowadays, Modern Art exudes a breath of fresh air and freedom
never before imaginable. Up till now, Art History has never had such an
array of possible techniques for artists to choose from or such a variety of
artistic languages for artists to fully express themselves. All the
different Art schools and tendencies, favoritisms aside (even though they
have always been there), enjoy a great open field that promises fabulous
creations in the coming years.
Surrealism, which was born in the 20th
century as a perfectly defined art movement, is nowadays a tendency impacted
by Expressionism, Figuratism, Abstract and many other schools of Art, which
enrich Surrealism without diluting it and enlarge Surrealism without voiding
it. I opine that the borders in art tend to vanish. It is still very complex
to reflect upon this phenomenon since we find ourselves currently in this
Art multimovement searching for the "one Art". But beware; never should it
be an imposition or an absolute movement. Art is free by nature and it will
always slip away, like water through our fingers, from the premonitions and
the horizons that we try to impose on it." © José Manuel Merello
Art
and the economical crisis.
Art, as any commercial product, is
noticing the same or more, since it is not an essential item, the
consequences of the current economic situation. However, as in all times of
change and redirection of political, economic and social paradigms, art can
come out, enriched and even strengthened, of a situation like this.
In
the Art world, particularly in the interpretation, actors and actresses tell
that certain levels of anxiety and stress are able to awake in them the
ability to concentrate and a transmission talent which they do not have in
normal situations. And, what is the present time but a continuous state of
turmoil and excitement? The art has been, fortunately or unfortunately,
nurtured by many or all of the major episodes of human seizure; signs of
this are the Picasso's Guernica or the Fusilamientos del 2 de Mayo from
Goya.
Would then be currently expected to flourish great works of art or
even a new art movement? Movement that could result in two very different
topics, one that would focus on criticism and look to the past aiming on the
events and behaviors that have led us to the current economic crisis, and
another that would extoll all that nourishes and gives the human a second
opportunity to reorient their economic, social and political processes, as
intelligence and generosity. ©P.M. Giménez
“I plead for humility in
painting. Painting does not need so much fanfare or intellectual pretension.
It must come from a person’s clean soul, from the clear and pure eye of the
painter, even if only a simple apple is being painted. It is for this reason
that I admire Morandi so much.” © José Manuel Merello
"I
detest a large part of the minimalism that is practiced today across all the
arts. I'm afraid that within this alleged synthesis there is an excess of
rubbish and uselessness floating around that serves only to confuse the
audience, which sometimes may be ignorant but blameless, although, more
frequently, intolerably pedantic, void of any understanding or knowledge."
© José Manuel Merello
“A
frame to a good painting is like a dress to a beautiful naked woman. It is
not essential but serves to celebrate and give charm to the work.” © José
Manuel Merello
"Spanish painting has, throughout the centuries, maintained a serene and
melancholic regard: tragic but never violent. There is no such thing as
violent Spanish painting. Even the most ferocious Goya or the most
horrifying Picasso never lose the composure and class inherent in the
brushwork." © José Manuel Merello
"Everybody asks themselves what art is. I think that art is any human
creation that is able to lift the spirit to a higher plain of emotion and
wonderment." © José Manuel Merello
"The
Expressionist Painters, The Surrealistic ones, The Contemporary Painters in
general ... and The Ancients, Figurative Painters, Abstracts, Realistics,
Pop, The Greatest Painters, The Unknown ones, The Famous ones, The Genial
Artists and The Artists without Genius... The Draftsmen of Comic, The
Digital ones, Arrogants, Simples, Mad Painters, Rich ones, Poor Painters. It
does not matter for me from where are they, Chinese or Spanish Painters; I
like All the Painters around the World, I am interested in the whole
painting; a simple vase, an anonymous portrait, a pretentious picture, a
stupid picture, a brilliant painting: They all are Painters, All is
Painting" © José Manuel Merello
"Horses
and children. Fat women, beautiful women and old ladies. The magicians and
poets. Dogs and cats sleeping. Bulls and Spanish bullfighters. The
processions of Seville and Malaga. The crucified Christs filled with blood
and prayers. The saints. A Virgin for each village. The sun and the rain of
Biscay. The sea, the passion, love and art of the Mediterranean. Painting
and older architecture. And the most modern. The dances and dances of the
villages lost. Literature issued by the Spanish world. Deep red, purple,
black and olive. The balance between the sun, moon and stars: this is the
Spanish art. " ©José Manuel Merello
"How
will be the art in 2011 and in the near future? Freedom defines contemporary
art. International art fairs are fun and intriguing, are challenges for
thought and human emotion. Walking through a contemporary art fair like ARCO
in Madrid, is now a mental release. You may think that what we are seeing is
not "art", you may think that some artistic creations are not moral and then
deduce that they are not art. But you are wrong. The art does not ever
depend on morality. Any work of art owes nothing to any form of thought or
ideology. The human spirit is free. Art is free. The art is beyond good and
evil. What is necessary is to prevent some forms of art that are violent,
dangerous, dictatorial. We can not allow them because we need rules for
coexistence or because it is ethically unacceptable. For example, we can
turn the Amazon into a garden empty, naked, with only a tree. Sure could be
a work of conceptual art, but it would be really stupid. The savagery and
brutality can be handled with great skill. It would not be moral, it might
be art, but should not be allowed.
Another common mistake for many
visitors to ARCO is to think that there can be only paint. No. The painting
is a very important part of art, but only a part. Many artists complain that
there is very little paint on the contemporary art fairs. They have a point,
perhaps the art galleries with paintings should be more exposed there.
Modern painting or classical paintings are wonderful, a highly evolved form
of art ... but Art does not need paintings for being Art. Of course, many
current creations are just ephemeral art, art to think and meditate during a
few minutes. And now that's a very interesting difference." ©José Manuel
Merello
Van
Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart and Marilyn. Matches.
"More nonsense.
Now it's up to Van Gogh. Just a new book that speculates about his last days
of life, whether he committed suicide or was accidentally killed.
I
don’t have read the book, but I have read some notes like one where someone
asks Vincent, who was bleeding in his bed, if he had wanted to commit
suicide and he said “I think so”. And for some persons this is a enough
reason to write a book because this answer might indicate that he did not
pull the trigger.
This nonsense, and others cited in the book, justifies,
without shame, to raise a new plot that will surely give a lot of money,
because it is likely to be after converted into a film. Tangle and dig no
matter what it takes, without the least respect in the life of someone who
gave everything for nothing. It's disgusting this hobby to create a
hieroglyph which gives morbid fascination and money for a long time. It
seems to me outrageous disrespect to the generous genius.
This is the
same with Leonardo's Mona Lisa. Come and see what we invented now or what we
can discover in the hackneyed, heavy and nothing enigmatic smile of Donna.
Hey, look, I think this hair of his hair is like a cross of a rare sect and
this union of points that I see is the trail of a powerful secret means that
Leonardo knew, even then, the existence of neutrinos. And on and on,
nonsense after another, no matter if the Mona Lisa is a mediocre picture
(beyond the use of "sfumato" as innovation), mediocre, yes, in its
historical context and others it can have a bit interest but plastically is
not too good. Never mind. They have already managed to become it an icon
based in chatter and nonsense, and then it begins to have an interest, quite
apart from its true quality. As the image of Marilyn in pop art. Nothing
more. Poor Marilyn, how many people are still profiting from his image and
his death. I am convinced Da Vinci would be saddened about all these
matters.
Or Mozart. He and his death. Salieri and Mozart enmeshed in a
tangle mesh tarnishing forever the image of the great man, making him look
like drivel, like a clown in the, otherwise extraordinary, film of Milos
Forman's, "Amadeus". It is always the same: to make art or intrigue whatever
it costs. I always say that art does not know morality but that does not
entitle us to crucify dogs or to make intrigues and cabals on humans who
only made to magnify our spirit giving it all they've got.
I am very
sad about people do not stop to remove the ears, bones, misery and privacy
of these martyrs of art.
Please, leave them all alone."
©José
Manuel Merello
"…being
a painter, a writer, a sculptor or a musician does not put one at a higher
rank than any other profession. There are a lot of professions that, when
carried out to the extreme, without a doubt achieve a higher level than that
of the majority of artists. For instance, a wonderful craftsman, a maker of
Manila shawls, can go further than a mediocre sculptor; the work can be
superior. Or a great soccer player can raise greater passion than most of
us, painters. To be an “artist” does not guarantee anything. However,
sometimes a genius is born in a way that distinguishes the great arts, along
with science, philosophy or politics, from any other endeavor. We cannot
compare Michael Angelo’s Sistine Chapel or Newton’s Law of Gravitation with
the most amazing soccer goal. Art with capital letters is easy to detect;
its light continues to shine through time.” ©José Manuel Merello
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