Fresh Art Friday: Ernesto Caivano

I'm thrilled to share the work of Ernesto Caivano with you today. Ernesto Caivano was born in 1972 and spent much of his childhood in Madrid, Spain. He obtained his BFA from the Cooper Union in 1999, earned his MFA from Columbia in 2001 and presently lives/works in NYC. Although he works in drawing, painting and sculpture, Caivano is best known for fantastic, narrative based ink drawings. 

Reverse Pendulum in Blue, 2008

Treating his pieces like a collage, Caivano pulls inspiration from folklore, poetry, classical mythology and fairytales weaving a story intended to resonate. While most of his series are linear, he describes his approach like 'hopscotch', often pausing a narrative to take a more scientific or different view (1)

Vegetable Omens, 2005

The Intelligence (Contact Points), 2008 

Caivano also pulls inspiration from various artists and artistic styles attempting to marry interesting elements from each (2). Stylistically, Caivano's drawings regularly borrow from art nouveau, modernist abstraction, Japanese prints and fractal geometry (3). When considering Caivano's love for blending science, history, cultures, and drastically different art theories, it's not really a surprise that as a kid he wanted to be a mad scientist. 

Single Stalk from the Armour Shell, 2007 

Suspension of Elements (A Kind of Reassembly), 2009

As gorgeous as these pieces are, what I love most about Caivano's works are the quiet, internal details that you really have to look for. The LA Times quoted Caivano as saying "..So somebody comes to see the show and thinks 'Oh flowers.' But if they look closer, maybe the see details, something with the intimacy of an illuminated manuscript, small enough to make you want to go inside it. Over time, they will discovery things in the same way as rereading a text." (4)

Rope, Blooms and a False Phallus, 2004

Caivano was displayed in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and has made his way into the Whitney Museum, The Guggenheim and MOMA's collections just to name a few. 

I hope you enjoyed his work!

-DBC