The universe of Maykel Herrera
The world of Maykel Herrera Pacheco (1979) is a universe of colors, toys, weapons, tools and fantasy.
It is built on the superimposition of images of men in spaces occupied by children. Oceans and mountains are made of textures and neutral backgrounds.
The children in his painting are capable of changing the nature of things at will. And they are the ones who keep the breath of life and the confidence in the anxiety of the present. They are the hope of the world.
A graduate of the Fine Arts School of Camagüey, specializing in painting (1993-1998), he has more than thirty personal exhibitions and several collective exhibitions in which he has participated. He is a prolific painter, of constant renovation and experimentation within the aesthetic line that has enthroned him.
In fact, children are the source of inspiration for many. They translate into spring, sunset or the sweet melody of nature. For Maykel Herrera, being the «painter of children» is a seal that distinguishes him from the other ideo-aesthetic proposals of his contemporaries.
With the use of hyperrealism, impasto and surreal tones in his compositions, he manages to bring the viewer closer to the fantasy of childhood. Perhaps this is the way to rescue adults from the weight of time. Taking the figure of a child as a representation has several readings.
The curious thing is the constancy of his representations – the theme of childhood – and the public that looks at his work – adults. The expressions of taste or rejection are charged with an obvious social basis. Perhaps this is the reason for the socio-political tone of his paintings.
At first glance, one notices the colorful and pleasant way in which he resolves the aesthetics of his paintings. This allows him to be accepted by the public as well as by critics and specialists. Of course, he likes the precious technique, as well as the themes and other ideo-conceptual licenses.
Children fly in Maykel Herrera’s imagination. Together with the little ones, our creativity is enlivened, the soul of an adult who wants to be a child again. Girls and boys walk on cardboard, use microphones, sing, dance, are small, big.
A handle can be a balloon, a glass a basket, they juggle. A pot can be full of «little ones». In themselves, the elements of the close-ups seem to float, golden eggs, colorful birds, religiosity, trade, and Cuba fit into a Christmas hat, a paper boat, or the handle of a bricklayer’s spatula.
Sizes are distorted, on a mostly ochre background. Children can fly and change things as they please. This must be the moral to the adult world, to the deterritorialization of collective memory, to the traumas of the past and to the false slogans of the globalized world.
Photos: http://www.maykelherrera.com/
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
