Esaí Alfredo, a Miami-based artist, crafts large-scale oil paintings that evoke a sense of mystery and wonder, reminiscent of unseen narratives unfolding just beyond the frame. Much like the comedic curiosity sparked by Steve Martin and Bill Murray’s tourist sketch on Saturday Night Live, Alfredo’s work entices contemplation of the unknown. His canvases often depict solitary male figures gazing towards distant, ambiguous events, prompting a desire to understand the stories hinted at but never fully revealed. These scenes capture moments of observation, leaving the specifics to the imagination and suggesting a larger, more complex world.
Alfredo’s distinctive visual language is heavily influenced by the aesthetic of the 1980s television show Miami Vice. He adopts the program’s signature palette of rich pastels and stark contrasts, where bright pinks and teals juxtapose with deep blacks to create a stylized, almost surreal atmosphere. This deliberate use of color and lighting allows him to construct scenes that feel both familiar and otherworldly. Drawing inspiration not only from television but also from classic cinema, science fiction, and theater, Alfredo employs these hues as vital tools for visual storytelling, creating a unique and captivating experience.
The artist himself describes his paintings as akin to screenshots or freeze frames extracted from a larger, more enigmatic film. His creative process involves extensive sketching and the development of character and setting studies, much like storyboards for a movie. These initial ideas are then translated into photographic compositions using real individuals and objects as references. This meticulous approach, combined with digital pre-visualization on an iPad, allows Alfredo to carefully plan his compositions before committing them to canvas, ensuring a strong foundation for the final painted image, while still allowing for spontaneous artistic decisions during the execution.
Alfredo’s recent body of work, titled STARLESS, further exemplifies his interest in capturing pivotal moments within unfolding narratives. Exhibited at EXPO CHICAGO with Spinello Projects, these paintings present figures within natural landscapes, under a sky absent of stars but punctuated by falling, unidentified objects. The characters within these scenes react with a mixture of awe, apprehension, and bewilderment to these strange occurrences. For Alfredo, these works are “snapshots of a larger story I’m still uncovering”, focusing on those intense instances where individuals are compelled to observe the inexplicable before deciding on a course of action.
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