Eccentric paintings elevate positive art

BY MARIA GALLUCCI
The News
Sept. 15, 2009

In a world filled with deep and moody artists, Mexico City painter Juan Rodríguez Lütje offers a simple, refreshing and inspiring proposal of warm colors, eccentric shapes and energetic patterns.

His 12-piece collection of acrylic-on-cloth paintings is on display now as part of his exhibition "Higher Ground" at the Pasagüero gallery, located in the capital city's historical center. The paintings will remain up and on sale through Wednesday, Sept. 30.

The exhibit's title, he said, refers to the 1973 song of the same name by U.S. funk and soul singer Stevie Wonder.

"The song's lyrics talk about how there are good things and bad things in this world," he told The News at the Sept. 9 inauguration.

"It also says that our duty is to always hold on to this 'higher ground,' to perceive everything in a more positive and creative way,"

That same feel-good vibe reveals itself in Rodríguez's paintings, themselves a reflection of the artist's personal, yoga-inspired ideologies of balance, well-being and inner peace.

"I've practiced a lot of yoga, and it leaves you in a joyful mood. It's from there that I paint, from this frame of mind," he said, adding that upbeat music like Wonder's songs inspires him while he works in the studio.

Inside the Pasagüero's concert-gallery area, the paintings hang like bursts of energy on the whitewashed walls. The works are simply titled numbers 1 through 12, and all were all produced during the same months-long period throughout the year.

The first piece in the exhibit is one of Rodriguez's more subtle works, with a gray and green background covered by a spiraling bronze-brown circle almost mirroring the rings on an exposed tree trunk. Opaque ovals and crudely painted lines indicate the shape of a flower and stem, while pastel oblong shapes and strokes float throughout the canvas.

"I used to draw and paint figurative art, so the paintings in this exhibit have to do with that," he said, adding that while his use of shapes is informal and not necessarily intentional, the objects are full of symbolism.

His painting Number 12 is an intense flurry of circles, dots, spirals, rings and ovals that populate the canvas in a busy and confusing order, utilizing virtually every color on the artist's palette. But stare long enough at the shapes and the spotted columns, colorful floor and descending drops at the top reveal themselves as elements in a psychedelic forest.

"I strongly believe that art is a catharsis," Rodríguez said.

"I also believe that it's a good message to send, that despite the fact that many negative things are happening in Mexico and around the world, we must always maintain this elevated mindset because it gives you a different perspective on life."

"Higher Ground" marks the artist's debut in the Pasagüero gallery and his first exhibition since 2005.

Born in 1965 in Mexico City, Rodríguez studied architecture at the Iberoamericana University through 1990. He also studied painting at the "La Esmeralda" National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving in the early 1990s.