NB JOURNAL- July 1999

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING A SYMBOLIC REALIST

Two hundred years after Governor Phillip, Ernesto Arrisueño, Peruvian-born symbolic realist, landed in Sydney. His parents had fled Lima's endemic terrorism, corruption and unemployment twelve months before. Their seven children followed them, one by one.

When Ernesto arrived, the first thing that struck him - like so many artists before him - was the sheer intensity of the light in Australia. "In my Peruvian paintings, I used more greens and greys. Because of the weather, the colours are always pale. The sky is always cloudy. But when I came here the first thing I saw was that beautiful strong blue sky. That changed the colours I use, and some of my subjects."

Today, Ernesto is exploring the unchartedterritory between surrealism and realism: "Unexpected things in everyday life. Things that sometimes surprise us, or even are absurd. Because, some of the paintings are symbolic and some are realistic, I just call it, as a general title, symbolic realism."

If you would like to see more of Ernesto's latest works, you can visit the Wagner Gallery, 39 Gurner Street, Paddington.