RHODES Editions is delighted to announce a new print edition by Spanish artist Lino Lago, launching 7 August at 4pm (BST) . The price on release will be £595, however, we are offering subscribers an exclsuive early access price of £450. This offer is valid until 1 August.
Lago was born and studied in Spain, graduating from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Since then, his work has received critical acclaim, featuring in numerous solo and group exhibitions internationally. His work has also entered the permanent collections of many institutions, including Harvard Business School and the Flint Institute of Arts, USA, among others.
Lago is best known for his Fake Abstract series. In this series, he begins with a classical European portrait, often based on works by renowned portrait artists such as Jacob Ferdinand Voet or Sandro Botticelli. However, what Lago adds to these works is what makes them distinctly contemporary.
While the shapes and styles may vary, Fake Abstract sees Lago obscuring these portraits with swirly lines or splashes of paint, distorting the original sitter’s face. These marks have a technological quality, reminiscent of MS Paint and other digital drawing tools. Their sharp edges reveal glimpses of the faces beneath, while simultaneously reimagining both the image and the parts of it we are permitted to see.
In this edition, Lago has deconstructed a portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, a 19th-century German portrait painter. Stieler is most well-known for his Gallery of Beauties in Nymphenburg Palace, made up of 38 portraits of noble women. His work became famous due to the clear dedication to the sitter, with his eye for detail and shading to capture them perfectly. As Stieler's works are known for their accuracy, Lago's covering of the majority of the work demonstrates his dedication to reimagining these classic works and what they stand for. Rather than seeing the whole woman, we are left with glimpses of her eye, pearl headdress, mouth, and neck. However, rather than demolishing Stieler's work, Lago forces us to consider the details even closer, enhancing the appreciation of his paintings.
The thickness of the card, 330 gsm, alongside the gold leaf, creates works with a deeply luxurious feel. When combined with the quality of the Archival Pigment Printing, Lago’s editions feel truly special. The shine and texture of the gold leaf contrast beautifully with the delicate portrait beneath, and the clean edges of the curved line ‘erasing’ the gold to reveal the figure.
In 2021, Lago released his first gold-leaf print edition, Fake Abstract (Jacob Ferdinand Voet), which quickly sold out. Another gold-themed release in 2022, inspired by Boucher, had similar results. This new edition marks his first use of gold leaf in three years, making this limited release all the more exciting.
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