Colorfields

Luis Oscar Ortiz is pleased to present ‘Colorfields’, the first solo exhibition in the artists New York gallery programme, featuring a new series of paintings. 

The concept originates in the eponymous painting movement of the 1950s in New York, characterized by modernism, abstraction, and vibrant fields of flat solid color spread across the picture plane. His work represents a progression differentiated by unique layers, symbolism, language and context. The notion of pushing boundaries interests Ortiz who considers depth of evolution one of the fundamental elements of life. 

In these works, colors are buried in ranges of varying proportion where new forms emerge – in the artist’s words, ‘like a layer cake’. Ortiz’s use of blue represents an allegory to his home and muse, New York, where glass building facades connect the city and the sky, evoking a sense of grandeur, modernity and nature. Blue captures the nocturnal beauty, as well as the surrounding rivers and ocean which play a significant role in the city's identity. It provides a visual counterbalance, suggesting a sense of order and enduring strength beneath the surface of the city's constant energy.

Vertical brushstrokes contribute to both the metropolitan and natural aesthetic, weaving an allegory between the man-made and the organic. The sense of upward movement mirrors the city's architecture, perpetual growth and aspiration inherent. Simultaneously, resulting forms can be viewed as a visual manifestation of nature's elements such as trees, rivers and plant life, introducing a duality. The incorporation of drips in Ortiz's work adds a layer of spontaneity and unpredictability reminiscent of rain flowing down surfaces, evoking the transient nature of life in constant change. This element exemplifies the ever-shifting dynamics of the city, capturing the ephemeral moments that contribute to its character, and suggest a harmonious coexistence.

In the painting ‘Be present above all else’ (2024), layers of blue dive deep, and through the rotation of the canvas drips flow both downward and upward towards the picture’s edge, serving to both anchor and to release the surface. Captions like ‘Water can flow and crash’ is etched into a vertical which skews the viewers interpretation towards nature. Similarly, the layers present in the background, hovering ominously behind the text, are not clearly assigned to the real or the subconscious. In paintings such as ‘Measure twice cut once’ (2024), entwined verticals collapse into one another like branches twisted and perhaps clinging one to the other.

Ortiz's upcoming exhibition underscores the enduring power of abstract art in a world inundated with figurative imagery online. His paintings offer a respite—a space for viewers to immerse themselves in the beauty of color and form, transcending the literal and inviting contemplation. The emotional resonance of Ortiz's art reaffirms the timeless allure of abstraction, proving its continued relevance in contemporary artistic discourse. Ortiz's unique approach establishes him as a contemporary artist pushing the boundaries of traditional mediums, inviting viewers to engage not only with visual aesthetics but also with the emblematic.