Barrio Escalante, San José

Visits by appointment only

Schedule a visit (opens the scheduler)
Serie Odette 2, by Roberto Puente. A border of triangular frets in red and gold frames the scene with the archaic rigidity of an altarpiece, establishing a sharp boundary between the viewer's physical space and the nocturnal density of the canvas.
1 photo · 1 video

Roberto Puente

Serie Odette 2

Year
2013
Technique
Acrylic/Canvas
Dimensions
90 × 70 cm
Status
Available
Palette
emerald green, bluish black, golden ochre, crimson red, cerulean blue
Brushwork
Layered fluid glazes, contact textile prints, and flat gold figures on a textural background.

Curatorial analysis

A border of triangular frets in red and gold frames the scene with the archaic rigidity of an altarpiece, establishing a sharp boundary between the viewer's physical space and the nocturnal density of the canvas. Within this protective threshold, the reference to the tragic myth of Odette unfolds not as a stage recreation of a ballet, but as a poetic invocation in which pictorial matter operates simultaneously as veil and revelation.

At the base, upon a narrow strip of blue that evokes both the surface of a lake and the floorboards of a stage, three silhouettes cut in gold rehearse a fixed choreography. They are flat figures, devoid of facial features, whose stylization contrasts with the surrounding gloom. Facing this lower rhythmic order, the main body of the painting unfolds into two atmospheres: on the left, an emerald-green luminosity filtered through a structure suggesting a doorway or threshold; on the right, a dense, vertical darkness accented by drips and crimson shadows.

Lace textures imprinted directly onto the pigment cross the pictorial space, introducing a tactile dimension that recalls theatrical finery, domestic veils, and the imprint of the feminine. Emerging through these textile patterns is a trembling calligraphy, a handwritten fragment whose meaning remains concealed beneath layers of acrylic. High in the upper right corner, a fourth figure appears like a phantom within a shadowy medallion, floating weightlessly over the void, while near the lower right an ochre-red orb anchors the eye to the shadowy ground.

The tension between the disciplined geometry of the borders and the veiled fluidity of the interior imbues the composition with a markedly intimate and ritualistic character. Here, dance does not take place before a conventional audience, but rather within the submerged territory of memory, where each stratum of matter guards a vestige of song, lace, and silence.

Serie Odette 2

More works by Roberto Puente

8 works

Available works

Sold and historical

Similar works

By subject, palette and style

Message the gallery on WhatsApp

Cookies

We use cookies to learn how the site is used and to show the gallery's ads on other platforms. They are only turned on if you accept them.