Barrio Escalante, San José

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En las Alturas, by Carlos Tapia. A centrifugal whirlwind dismantles any pretense of domestic stillness in this large-format canvas.
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Carlos Tapia

En las AlturasSold

Year
2006
Technique
Acrylic/Canvas
Dimensions
150 × 150 cm
Status
Sold
Palette
scarlet red, turquoise blue, yellow, purple, emerald green
Brushwork
Flat planes of strident color articulated by thick, undulating black outlines.

Curatorial analysis

A centrifugal whirlwind dismantles any pretense of domestic stillness in this large-format canvas. Objects do not rest upon a stable ground; rather, they float and contort within an oscillating gravity where traditional perspective gives way to a kaleidoscopic vanishing point. To the left, a serpentine, elastic chest of drawers thrusts toward the upper edge in defiance of physical laws, while a black-and-white checkerboard floor fractures and folds in on itself. This checkerboard draws the eye toward an open door, behind which an oval mirror multiplies the interior into an infinite loop that questions the room's scale and depth.

Three felines with incandescent gazes and dilated pupils inhabit this bewilderment as the absolute masters of the scene. Two of them keep watch perched atop the curved furniture, tensing the left vertical axis with supple postures; the third stalks stealthily beside the threshold, locking its magnetic turquoise pupils directly onto the viewer. On the opposite flank, a tilted vase spills calla lilies with snow-white petals and colossal leaves coursed by yellow veins. This botanical exuberance cuts against a blazing red ground, balancing visual weight against the ornate density of the opposite side.

The pictorial matter breathes through an unrelenting chromatic saturation. Acrylic delivers solar yellows, dense violets, and pure blues without timid transitions, rigorously contained by a thick, sinuous black outline that grants each form an almost sculptural presence. Diverging stripes, strained diagonals, and arabesque backgrounds transform the walls into fields of pure optical vibration. In the foreground, an empty armchair seen from an impossible overhead angle awaits, inviting the observer to claim the sole available seat before this feverish celebration, suspended right at the edge between wakefulness and dreamlike trance.

En las Alturas

More works by Carlos Tapia

153 works

Available works

View all 153 works by Carlos Tapia
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