‘Anti-portraits’ offer more than face-value

Chilean artist Raul Pizarro aims to represent the spirit of his subjects


Sometimes you wake up, look in the mirror and are happy with what you see. Other days, your reflection seems almost unsightly.

Chilean artist Raul Pizarro’s upcoming exhibition “ANTITLED” at Laughing Tree Lab in Itaewon-dong, Seoul, explores why our thoughts about our image change on a day-to-day basis.

That perception ― it’s the same face, it’s the same shape ― why did it change so much?” wondered Pizarro.

It is impossible to define yourself based on the way you feel right now,” he added.

Continuing a concept he has been exploring for several years now, he aims to emphasize that humans are in a constant state of flux and cannot be defined accurately by outward appearance.

The exhibition will feature around 21 “anti-portraits,” a term used by Pizarro, 30, to try and capture the spirit of his models, rather than their physical traits.

“We are not just a face, or a person from a particular country or a culture but we are beings full of emotions, thought and actions that are impossible to convey just in a simple image, in the traditional way of making portraits.

“To explain it I would have to say that it’s actually a real portrait. But in order to make my point I have to call it an anti-portrait.”

Pizarro’s interest in “quantum art,” which expresses that there is more to discover beyond our known universe, is evident in the contorted shapes of his portraits which appear refracted by holography.

Somewhat dark in mood, he confessed that much of that is his own influence on the painting.

“I guess the professional artist is pretty selfish,” said the father-of-one, who moved to Korea two years ago when his Peruvian fiance earned a scholarship to study here.

Smiling, he added: “To be honest, I think most of the time it’s related to myself. And I’m just trying to find an excuse in someone else to put (across) my own emotions.”

Although his style is not traditional, his techniques are, and he uses oil on canvas just as classical portrait painters have for hundred of years.

When he first came to Korea he used acrylic paints for reasons of time and cost, but he prefers oils after being taught under an esteemed professor from the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain, who wanted to preserve the method. 

Only one of Rizarro’s models has so far seen the finished result. He said his muse seemed happy with it, although he joked that he is not so sure how he will feel once the title is revealed: “A fake portrait of a cynical person.”

“My work doesn’t have any intention of making a person recognizable in the way we understand it but as a being in constant change, filled with ambivalences and contradictions,” he explained.

“What I really want to say is that each person has feelings, has thoughts. This is their real shape.”

Rizarro’s anti-portrait exhibition ― his last in Korea before he leaves the country ― will be at Laughing Tree Lab from Sept. 17. Check the gallery’s Facebook page for directions and details on opening times.

By Hannah Stuart-Leach  (hannahsl@heraldcorp.com)