Victor Quino by Jenn Allen
When hearing the term “ surrealism ,” most people think of melting clocks , fl ying fi sh , or animals with unnaturally long toothpick legs . The artistic style has a reputation of being weird for the sake of being weird , but there is much more to surrealism . Victor Quino is all too familiar with rejection because of the surrealistic nature of his paintings . He is often told that his work is not sellable , and if he wants to be represented by a gallery , he has to drastically change his art .
“ This is my expression . I don ’ t want to make art for business ,” Quino explains to us while we visit his studio that is fi lled with work from the past forty years . There is not an image of a melting clock in sight . There are , however , elongated humanesque forms with wheels attached to their feet , images of water ranging from puddles to oceans , blue skies decorated with fl uffy white clouds , and lots of images of horses . You can fi nd a horse in almost every painting in Quino ’ s studio . To him , the horse symbolizes “ power , strength , and loyalty ” and he personally identifi es with the creature . Even though Quino has not spent any time around horses , they always seem to work their way into his paintings , and he often describes the horse as himself . One of his earliest works that I saw was an ink illustration of a large horse trapped inside of a tiny room . “ That ’ s me . I ’ m the horse , every time ,” Quino explains .
Before coming to the United States , Quino grew up and studied fi ne art in Peru . He showed me work from 1977 , created when he was a student . His traditional drawing background surprised me when I saw his gesture drawings that he brushed off as being poorly drawn — what they showed was a classical understanding of form and light . He graduated from art school with a degree in sculpture , where he predominantly worked with metal . Quino even created metal sculptures of horses , explaining that his association and fascination is something that he always identifi ed with . Not being taught about surrealism in school , he was only aware of the artistic style after he was exposed to the works of Gerardo Chavez in a gallery . After seeing Chavez ’ s work , Quino realized paintings are more free to express than sculptures so he switched mediums —“ Maybe I ’ m in the wrong place .”
Like that large horse in the tiny room , Quino felt trapped living in Peru . In order to satisfy his personal longing for freedom , he felt that his only choice was to leave his family and travel to the United States . Boris Quino , Victor ’ s son , explains his father ’ s experience when he left Peru : “ In the beginning , he didn ’ t know he was coming to the United States . He brought me a case of letters between him and my mother , when she was in Peru . He decided to come to the United States , and emigrated from country to country to get here . All of the letters are a refl ection of him trying to break free from one place to another place .” Boris did research on his father ’ s life for a documentary , “ Before the Lights Go Out .” The documentary , being produced by Valencia College , will tell Quino ’ s story and struggle .
He soon became an illustrator and landed other design-based jobs . But while he was becoming a successful American , he had family trouble back home . His father passed away , and Quino had no way of going back to Peru . Painting became a method to cope with the emotional and physical detachment he felt . He made paintings of mourning fi gures with distant funerals , separated by cracks in the earth .
The narrative of his early work is easier to decipher . It wasn ’ t until Quino let his subconscious take over his artwork that he started to create the colorful works fi lled with layers and hidden meanings . One of the trademarks of his paintings is his use of color . He has the ability to take otherwise bright colors and somehow make them look sad or haunting . Not all of Quino ’ s paintings deal with the macabre , but it is diffi cult for anyone to paint a cheerful scene when everything else in their life seems to be grim . He has many paintings depicting his loving wife reaching out in all directions , trying to help her independent children who insist on becoming adults . Weeping fi gures , solemn faces , and pools of water all symbolize the sadness that he witnessed in his wife . Quino ’ s work gets a reputation for being morbid or depressing , but his paintings are refl ections of his emotions . The key to the surrealist style is the dreamlike state which he enters while creating his work . The paintings appear to him as he is creating them , and they often mirror his personal experiences .
In 2013 , Quino had a stroke and struggled with cancer . He fought long and hard against the cancer , but lost vision in his right eye during the process . Icons from this tragic event in his life can be seen throughout his work . One recurring image is of Quino ’ s dog . “ Morena . She protects me a lot . She is very close to me . She follows me everywhere .” Especially during chemo , she never left his side .
The aptly named documentary “ Before the Lights Go Out ” is documenting Quino ’ s process and his work before he loses his ability to see . While looking at one painting in particular , The Mystery of the Light , Boris points out to us that most of his father ’ s fi gures are missing their
left : crop view of Play My Song , oil on canvas below : Victor Quino and his dog , Morena , in studio
Quino was reunited with his wife in America , but it was not easy for him to leave his family behind . His hard work and charismatic personality helped him succeed at work , even though there was a language barrier . He used his art as a way to break the ice . After creating a caricature of the owner of the printing company he worked for , he was promoted .
Orlando ’ s Art Scene , v . 1.3
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