Painting as a planet, Juan Usle

Juan Uslé, The River of Love, 1998–1999, vinyl, dispersion and dry pigment on canvas, 24 × 18 inches

Shirley Kaneda interviewed artist Juan Uslé for Bomb Magazine. They talk about life under Franco, his move to the US, the challenge of learning the traditions of painting while trying to speak to the present and of course his process.

There’s a recurring notion in all my work: the wish not to force things but instead to wait and “listen,” to be on alert so I can become attuned to and understand what I’m making.

and his influences

A list of my influences would be long and very unfair too, since painting in itself is already a planet, a world that is turning, revealing to us what we’d overlooked before. 

Read the full interview here

Juan Uslé, Always First of May in Lund, 2010, vinyl, dispersion and dry pigment on canvas, 24 × 18 inches.
Images courtesy of the artist and Cheim & Read, New York; LA Louver, Los Angeles; Frith Street Gallery, London; Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin; and Galerie Lelong, Paris.