People in the room

For Island’s last show at rue Van Eyck before they move, Alejandra Hernández presents a selection of works created during her last year at HISK (Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten/Higher Institute for Fine Arts), where she graduated in December 2016. These works are deeply rooted in her artistic practice.

Her paintings and drawings find their inspiration in her personal experience, in pop culture, cinema, art history and mythology. She draws her references from these sources, digesting them before reformulating them in her work. Personal tales of the model and of Alejandra Hernandez emerge in the works, as do universal souvenirs, in which each and everyone may project their own stories. Inspired by naïve art, such as the works of Talita Hoffmann or le Douanier Rousseau, the young Colombian is also influenced by South American painters such as Diego Rivera.

Her aesthetic is deeply rooted in our time. Alejandra Hernández, like a sponge, absorbs the passions of her contemporaries without order nor hierarchy. “Everything I consume has an impact on what I produce”. The human being as central inspiration, she approaches nude portraiture in a classical manner, scattering clues of the tales told by the model during the posing sessions. Her models bare all as they sit in front of their personal belongings. Her colourful palette stands out and captures the eye, such as a reminiscence of her native country, lively and joyful as is the author of theses works.

For her exhibition at Island, the artist shows us a series of monotypes on paper depicting nudes and/or objects surrounding them. These monotypes have been made from preparatory drawings for oil portraits painted previously. Fragile and sharp, the quick gesture of Alejandra Hernández exhibits a whole universe in just a few lines.