2002 - PROLOGUE OF THE CATALOGUE IN THE EXHIBITION AT THE O.A.S,
WASHINGTON DC.

Mónica Saenz and Mariana Valdés have developed a new technique that goes beyond their long experience in Fresco and Trompe L'oeil wall painting. The huge canvases similar in scale to their past wall work ,but painted instead on a free standing cloth, allow the artists to explore their recurrent artistic subjects in a more open medium.

Nature and relevant icons from the built environment of Uruguay ,come to life in this unusual form of collaboration between the two artists. The two blend their talents in a way that makes it impossible to determine specific authority over any part of the painting. As a result , their paintings show an intensity of expression and a technical quality that is generally unsurpassed by any of their individual work of art.

The canvases capture the subtle feeling of joy and solitude inherent to the natural environment of this small, unpopulated country at the edge of the Pampas. The sea, the unspoiled fields and " ombu " trees ,appear under a shaded deep blue sky ,that help enhance the spirit of peaceful solitude. But seldom do these natural landscapes stand by themselves, in most cases they are framed by an array of close-up details of buildings. All these, ranging from a classical column to a frontispiece or an art deco circular window are recognizable pieces taken from well-known architectural icons of Uruguay.

By contrasting nature´s faraway presence with the man -made environment ,and in focusing details from existing buildings ,the artists come up with a fresh and vivid interpretation of the Uruguayan context. This differs substantially from the painting of "estancia" courtyards and city landscapes that have been a common denominator to traditional local artists, such as Pedro Figari and Juan Storm.The urban and rural landscapes act as important mediums for expression of the local culture in the Rio de la Plata region .

Mónica and Mariana have found an alternative way of developing their art. The contrast between an elaborate marble railing detail and a set of palm trees seen in the distance become simple straightforward symbols, that help us reframe with new vigor the unique and timeless character of the Uruguayan context.

Dr Antonio Mercader
Minister of Education and Culture of Uruguay

2003 - OPTICAL IMAGES

Two painters, Mónica Sáenz (M’deo, 1957) and Mariana Valdés (M’deo 1964) try the innovative task of painting  canvasses “with four hands”  which, in “trompe l’oeil” style, tease the viewer promising  landscapes through inexistent windows.  The optical illusion works marvelously: the viewer glances  at the suggested  places and recognizes them with a renovated look that integrates the flora and the autochthonous birds in the startling poetry which the artists  deliver with impeccable skill.

These paintings  are on exhibition at the Trench Gallery  in the Barra de Maldonado.  While Sáenz began her study of painting  with Jorge Damiani (1973), Valdés took  lessons from Hilda López (1979); and a common interest in communication - sciences brought them together at the Catholic University in 1982. Together they studied under Juan Storm (1985) and separately they won  awards in different national competitions.   Abroad, Monica Sáenz  participated in a show of art naif in Paris (1977), while Mariana Valdés studied painting  under Luis Felipe  Noé in Buenos Aires, where she attended the  “ Ernesto de Cárcova”  Institute of  Fine Arts (1987).  The workshop of Clever Lara, the Tempo Gallery and the Gallery of Juan Enrique Gomensoro, are instances which precede  this happy experience of painted canvasses, after having worked together in the painting of murals and patinas (1990 – 2001).

Both painters share the work in all the canvasses; however  one does not detect the personal mark in either the drawing or the brush-stroke.  In the same way as in the antique oriental tapestries, or in the first Western ones made in monasteries by cratfsmen from France or the Low Countries during the High Middle Ages, who used to inherit the work through generations and completed points and colours in works that transcended the period of their lives, so Monica and Mariana are able to continue the gesture and brush-stroke which blend in the unity of the chosen landscape. They work from photographs taken in places which the artists highlight because of their natural beauty; they study the flora and the birds which nest and sing there: as a mark of this sensitive task, in the frame of each illusory window, there is a little bird which perfectly reflects the characteristics of a real local bird.  This sign is reminiscent of the flower which, at the base of a landscape or still life, indicated the touch of Storm, the cypher of his feeling in placing a natural and decorative element discretely integrated into the severity of his compositions. 

The oldest tapestry known so far was found in the steppes, in Pazyryk, and because of its resemblance to certain decorative Achaemenid fabrics, its perfectly balanced  composition divided into regular compartments decorated by rosettes which fortell the classical period and beyond, the Larrousse dictionary states that its  origin is presumed to be Iranian.   This reference allows one to value  the long history of  walls covered by fabrics which fulfill a decorative function; by offering a natural view, they cut the full extension of a surface  that, because of having to support a construction, prevents any contact with light.

Light is what the present canvasses of Saenz and Valdes provide. With infinite greens and blues of the Uruguayan countryside and rivers, they are framed within the traditional window frames, or in rustic stone, or in walls which clearly repeat architectural styles of urban reference. Light and colours that respond to the architectural demands of today. Because the walls are no longer transparent as they were some decades ago, following the school of Frank Lloyd Wright;  nor are terraces and windows multiplied, or decorations in the same material as the main structures which distinguished the works of the architect Vilamajó, leaving a deep mark in the professional formation  as well as in the buildings of this country. More recent architecture seems to centre on the interior of  what is built, creating vast spaces which only open up to the outside by way of regular-sized windows- perhaps as a way to protect intimacy. It is for this type of houses or for the reception rooms of public buildings, which because of their dimensions need the decoration of larger surfaces, that Saenz and Valdes offer an adequate solution. The effort of these artists who for many hours turn into artisans, is well justified, since they are able  to combine this happy opportunity of the decorative resource, with the perfection of its execution and the brilliance of colour, as well as with the poetry which inundates these canvases which, while based on a photograph avoid easy naturalism, and offer the viewer an important dose of fantasy and abstraction. They thereby fulfill the role that is required by the times in which they are living.  With local elements they create an apparently utilitarian painting which, however, is to last because its plastic values are universal.

Elisa Roubaud