Villa del Arte Galleries presents the work of Ekaterina Smirnova (1981), a Russian artist who resides in Brooklyn. This series of large format works explores the multiple possibilities of watercolor, a technique that the artist claims is ¨as versatile as water itself¨. The exhibition Atmosphere opens on 25th of April and can be visited until 26th of May 2013.

Smirnova has a unique approach to the traditional method of watercolor. She works by saturating rolls of large format, rough textured paper and applying a wash that eliminates the precision and accuracy to reveal new possibilities. Using large, hard brushes she splashes paint and blots it into the canvas. She applies more paint with a dry brush and then uses spray paint to fade out sharper lines. The artist explores this liquid medium by breaking, one by one, all the rules previously established by watercolor artists.

Water can vary from a puddle reflecting a gray cloud; to a delicate drop; to torrential rain, from blinding snow; to a patch of black ice. I want to take advantage of this diversity and explore watercolor from non-traditional perspectives. I want to experiment with large paper, unconventional textures, shadows and intense contrasts.

Ekaterina Smirnova's paintings are best described with a single word: atmospheric. Her technique captures the depths of her surroundings, fading the distant objects, sharpening those in the foreground and portraying the weight of water in the air. She focuses on cities, at dusk, dawn, or in the dead of night when the contrast between the sky and city´s burning lights is at its strongest. The exhibition Atmosphere includes works of her adopted hometown of New York, (typically from elevated points of view, such as the observation decks of the Empire State Building, or Rockefeller Center) and others of Barcelona painted during a month long stay in the city.

Smirnova studied at the Arts Student League of New York and most recently has taken on the role of travelling artist, journeying through Asia, Europe and America. She has collected various awards from juried art shows, including The Brooklyn Waterfront Art Coalition, the Salmagundi Club and the Allied Artists of America and been exhibiting her work in galleries and art fairs in America and Europe.

Villa del Arte Galleries
C/ Tapineria, 39
Barcelona 08002 Spain
Tel. +34 93 2680673
info@villadelarte.com
www.villadelarte.com

Opening hours
Every day from 10:00 to 20:00
Free entrance