By: Nathalie Mesa Sánchez
The work of Alberto Lago, from a personal perspective, never ceases to remind me of the happiest moments of my childhood. If I could describe with art, that stage of my life, undoubtedly Lago's pieces, for their colorfulness, harmony, balance and genuine joy that he presents, would be the most appropriate for it. Knowing that he is exhibiting today at Maxima gallery, gave me the opportunity, not only to have a personal look, but also to savor his art with a specialist's criterion.
"The great awakening", could not have been a better title for this exhibition. Each piece denotes a magic coming from the chromatic decomposition and the permanent and blushing presence of light, which awakens, cheers and produces relief, encouragement and excitement. The use of fluorescent tones is recurrent in his work, which together with the artist's perspicacity and genius, captivates and enables great expressive force.
Perhaps we are not able to identify any reference in each painting. I would not be inclined to think that there is some photographic image by which the artist has been guided to create his pieces. I would rather argue that Alberto Lago's paintings have no other references than those of his own subconscious, and that he overturned in his creation personal and collective experiences, in which happiness is translated on the motto that love is the most beautiful answer. However, he is very close to the psychedelic painting of the 60's; and not far from the surrealists' oneirism, where creation is dominated by the subconscious. From the latter, Lago transforms his thoughts from the absurd and impulsive, into more rational and sensible ones.
The art of this creator is one of those that pleases everyone. Its charm also lies in the presence of sometimes figurative elements, and sometimes abstract ones, which allow us to invent different stories within the same painting. If we could convert his creation into a grammatical sign, we would undoubtedly give it that of admiration or exclamation. Its vivacity is so surprising that it is what we would call a painting that is always happy.
When we virtually visit Alberto Lago's "The Great Awakening", we will be left with so many positive sensations that we will have proven, once again, that we could not have lived without art in the midst of this pandemic.
Taken from Tribuna de La Habana
Exhibition link https://www.artsteps.com/view/5f4d56e2a05bb3089505d265