Enjoyment Eulogy

The still life –I would rather call it, in the Ductch manner, “silent life”, still lieven- has been one of the most afflicted and ambiguos genders of the art history. It was repudiated by the Academies, which granted it the last place in the theme hierarchy, but the Flemish, Dutch and Spaniards of the XVII and XVIII Centuries exalted it, and, under its apparent humility, took it through mystic considerations, to the very limits of megalography. A minor gender by definition, it became however the scenery of opposite visiones of the world.

Fruits, vegetables, the modest utensils of Popliteo are not only  a product of the sensitive observation of nature: they also come, primarily, from the art history tradition. Within its realism, in its sensuality, what is expressed is a reading of the reading which, centuries ago, others made of the same themes. And, further, Popliteo assumes all the contradictions of this case. I do not think that, within these colossal pieces in relation with its models, any cristicism to the threatening genetic manipulations may be found. Because those vegetables, those fruits are not huge at all: on the contrary, they are harmonious in their proportions (enlarged but not deformed-contrary to those of Botero-); some textures invite us to touch them, almost bite them. These colors please our sight: their are delight to our senses. One would have to be very  perverse, nearly as much as Eva´s Serpent, to hide the wickedness behind such seductive appearances. No, Popliteo is not performing science fiction. Popliteo reflects on art, as a large number of contemporary artists also do

v     As a second nature, as a theme for art

v     As a possibility to express desires and fears

v     As a language made out of codes

We take delight in admiring Popliteo´s technical skill and we celebrate Popliteo´s amazing control of the plenitude of volume, the reflexes of patina, the veracity of tactile surfaces. But in that virtuosity, not only love for nature or divine works is reflected, but also for human works. Here, in that fruition, Zurbaran, Sanchez Cotan, Melendez and Caravaggio´s fruit basket are present. (In some works, Popliteo even replaces the traditional pedestal by a “wicker” basket of unmistakable origin).

The art of still life is one of the supreme ambiguity; it is the chronicle of the incessant struggle of the human being between what is sensual and what is spiritual; what is ephemeral and what is perpetual; what is earthly and what is celestial. What used to be a joyful exaltation of wordly goods, becomes a vanitas: a thoughtful reflection  about the fugacity of these goods, and urge to despise them, a warning about their power, in order to alienate us from the true values. Goods hanging by a thread (Sanchez Cotan), taking us away from the religious values (Pieter Aersten, Velazquez). Partly peeled fruits, worms, crumbs: long-past time, lost time, putrefaction. In Popliteo, the generosity of Nature (as defined by its format) is recovered, as the right to enjoy it, but one must rush. Tomato leaves are withering; some cherries have lost their stems, the ribbon of the beautiful arrangements may be untied, the apple on the crest of a nice and precarious building is threatening to fall and demolish everything.

Sculpture is more real than the reality of paintings: Popliteo sculptures objects of  Nature, an he sculptures paintings. Upon changing media, he changes codes. And, at the same time, he reaffirms the codes: he grants a minor gender the dignity of commemorative statuary. He builds a monument to the perishable. Green peppers and asparagus as saints and warriors; pears and apples as muses and deities. With humor and nerve, codes are being aluded and disarranged from within, but the artist continues making use of them. Hence he reaffirms their vallidity, because they are always subject to be revisited and they prevail through their changes.

Under deceptively traditional forms (still life, clay molding and bronze casting, perfect finish, museum display), Popliteo´s work is framed within the most contemporary concern of fine arts: on its way, it gathers a language of modernity (hiperrealism) to grasp past, turning his own production into a narcisist act that questions art itself as a form of knowledge, enjoyment and spirituality.

Federica Palomero/ February 2000