Juan Perdiguero
Dogs seem to leap through space at Three Walls. The greyhounds in Juan Perdiguero’s eight large drawings on photo paper combine the cuteness of pets and the sleekness of racers with hints of aggression. Unlike conceptually driven artists, for whom the picture frames might be more important than the rendering, he communicates through exquisite control of his medium, etching ink. Groups of tiny lines convey fur, but a bit more chaotically than in an old master because Perdiguero lays down ink first, then removes it with gloved hand and paper towel. The ink brightens to show features or seems to congeal in the darkest areas, taking on a dynamic life of its own. He develops the photo paper before drawing on it, and the resulting stains sometimes add movement to the image. Each title begins Perro Negro (“black dog”) and is followed by a word, such as sombra (“amber”) or marfil (“ivory”), to describe the quality of the ink.
