İdil Sanat ve Dil Dergisi
www.idildergisi.com
Cilt 9, Sayı 70  Haziran 2020  (ISSN: 2146-9903, E-ISSN: 2147-3056)
Damla CAN KOÇ

NO Makale Adı
1590656055 IN CULTURAL EFFECT: WOMEN PORTRAITS OF ABELARDO HERNANDEZ ALFONSO

Abelardo Hernandez Alfonso is a contemporary artist whose works are influenced by the 21st century. Globalization, internet and easy travel brought about the engagement of cultures, and thus the image of an Asian woman, which is a distant subject for a Cuban artist, represented a source of inspiration to him. The works incorporate the images of an Asian geisha from the perspective of a Cuban artist. As a cultural icon in the Far East, a Geisha personify the image of a woman who wears kimono and is meek and exotic. Abelardo Hernandez Alfonso interprets this icon with collage and offers it to the spectators with a modern expression. The motif of Far Eastern woman acquires a new visual expression with the works of Abelardo. This study analyzes a part of the geisha portraits of the artist created between 2015 and 2016 according to rear and front structure categories. These works which bear influences from machine aesthetics were created by a mixture of various materials and methods. The women motifs designed with supplies such as paper, cardboard and paperboard were composed as embossed according to their light values. The stable figures of women in these works were rendered dynamic by bringing volume to varying layers. The artistic effect on the surface generally attach importance to rhythmic orientation, directional contrasts, the circulation of bigger and smaller pieces, light and shadow assessment and the exposition of blank and occupied areas. Furthermore, the artist undertook the role of acculturation in art and discovered a new form of expression by incorporating the aesthetics of the East with the range of plastic techniques of the Western world.

Keywords: Acculturation, Abelardo Hernandez Alfonso, portrait, collage, Far Eastern art, geisha