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ÓSCAR DOMÍNGUEZ.

Between myth and dream.

As much for the subversive quality of his creations, as for his active participation in the Surrealist movement, a key moment in 20th century avant-garde art, Óscar Domínguez (Tenerife, 1906 – París, 1957) is considered to be, along with Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí, "the third biggest name that Spain has given to surrealist painting". These are the words of Juan Manuel Bonet in his famous work Diccionario de las Vanguardias Artísticas en España (Dictionary of the Avant-Garde in Spain).

Dominguez spent his childhood between the municipalities of La Laguna and Tacoronte in Tenerife, where his family owned farms and plantations. In 1927 he began to spend considerable time in Paris, and in 1936 it became his permanent residence until his death on 31 December 1957.

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Óscar Domínguez, surrealist.

“Spanish, Canary Islander, Surrealist, painter, poet, a man of many talents and a wonderful tango dancer, Dominguez stands out for his giant stature and imagination of a child, in an era of incessant intellectualism. His painting evolves in leaps and bounds, his mind works by associating ideas, his large hands are able to repair tiny clock springs or hammer out tall iron statues, and scribble indecipherable poems on paper napkins where his childhood, his island and his work gush to the surface”.

[Maud Bonneaud, revista Bref, Les éditions du Promeneur, nº. 1, París, 1955.]

Óscar Domínguez.

Between myth and dream.

Óscar Domínguez.

The name Óscar Domínguez evokes many things: for some he is a visionary painter, inventor of decalcomania; for others the talented maker of surreal objects - those machines that are impossible and insolent, erotic and transgressive, yet always poetic; while some may allude to the creator of disturbing dreamlike realities who, in the words of Agustín Espinosa, shakes "the rails of a train in flames". Through his multifaceted work, his subversion and constant renewal, Óscar Domínguez represents the forever unsatisfied artist, the non-conformist creator, free within his creative freedom. However, the changing fevers in his painting, caused by too much experimentation, as well as his spontaneous, impulsive and tragicomic character, described by Pérez Minik as that of an "eternal dissident, those that do not know how to build a new world after the revolution", did not always allow Domínguez to fully explore all the possibilities of his own discoveries, thus turning his work into a constant search for new ways to paint, draw and write.

From his Dalinian compositions in the early 30s (La bola roja - the red ball, 1933 and Le dimanche - the Sunday, 1935), to the genius of his cosmic paintings (Los platillos volantes - the flying dishes, 1939) and his overcoming of the metaphysical period and assimilation of influences from Picasso in the 40s (Mujer sobre el diván - woman on the divan, 1942), up to his triple tracing technique and later, the informalist phase which characterises his last works (Delphes, 1957), Domínguez's fatal predisposition towards the hallucinated twists and turns of his imagination and his constant experimentation, eventually become the roadmap for his entire creative journey. Indeed, the painter from Tenerife is defined by his intuitive dreamlike painting, governed by a spirit of liberation in its purest state, which is perfectly in keeping with the clandestine, vertiginous and irrational machinery of Surrealism.

Óscar Domínguez’s main contribution to Surrealism was the invention of the so-called decalcomania technique, as explained in the Dictionnaire Abrégé du Surréalisme, written by André Breton and Paul Éluard in 1937. This painting technique is one of the signature methods of surrealist automatism. The artist’s role is reduced to simply spreading black ink over a surface, covering it with another sheet and applying light pressure. When this second sheet is removed, it reveals the shadow of an indescribable landscape or a seabed. Gradually Dominguez went on to explore the possibilities of his technique, working alongside Marcel Jean to introduce elements that led to new findings. This led to the use of stencils that combine the free and whimsical intervention of chance with intentionality, as in the case of the figures of the lion and the window in the Grisou series. Here, the motifs are chosen according to Surrealist trends: a lion (symbol of the insatiable desire of the imagination and creative impulse), in front of a window (perhaps to a different or unknown world) is about to unveil a new perspective.

Óscar Domínguez, surrealist.

“I never think - said Domínguez, proud to make such a bold statement among intellectuals. To be earthly, a prisoner to one’s ghosts, drowning happily in the smells, sap and wisdom of the Atlantic and the island. His mind worked with openness. Any exterior phenomena triggered a series of completely unexpected reactions, but comprehensible for anyone able to follow the passionate, childlike and exciting maze of Ariadna. Free play, extreme sensitivity, the association of ideas, the release of myths and dark taboos came out in poetic spurts, without immediate explanation. Neither with any pursuit of beauty nor literary pretence.”

[Maud Bonneaud, La Tarde, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 10 February 1968.]

Óscar Domínguez.

Inventor of decalcomania.

Óscar Domínguez’s main contribution to Surrealism was the invention of the so-called decalcomania technique, as explained in the Dictionnaire Abrégé du Surréalisme, written by André Breton and Paul Éluard in 1937. This painting technique is one of the signature methods of surrealist automatism. The artist’s role is reduced to simply spreading black ink over a surface, covering it with another sheet and applying light pressure. When this second sheet is removed, it reveals the shadow of an indescribable landscape or a seabed. Gradually Dominguez went on to explore the possibilities of his technique, working alongside Marcel Jean to introduce elements that led to new findings. This led to the use of stencils that combine the free and whimsical intervention of chance with intentionality, as in the case of the figures of the lion and the window in the Grisou series. Here, the motifs are chosen according to Surrealist trends: a lion (symbol of the insatiable desire of the imagination and creative impulse), in front of a window (perhaps to a different or unknown world) is about to unveil a new perspective.

Óscar Domínguez.

Exposiciones dedicadas en TEA.

Óscar Domínguez.

Maker of objects.

One of the key focus points of Surrealism was what André Breton described as “the fundamental crisis of the object”, a concept that questioned the functionality of everyday items and described the need to award them a new creative dimension, that is, to deprive them of their typical use and give them a symbolic function. In this way, these ingenious artefacts, that we “only come across in our dreams”, thus became ideal tools for the poetic utility that Surrealism aimed to instil into life. If indeed, as Édouard Jaguer claims, “the world of surrealist object would not be what it is today without Dominguez’s creations”, the Canarian painter’s contribution to surrealist art is without a doubt, crucial. The TEA Collection contains perhaps the most celebrated object of all those conceived by the artist: Ouverture or Paris (1936). A photograph in the study of Surrealist historian Marcel Jean, shows both men in a reflective mood, at a table upon which this fascinating artwork sits, still.

Maker of objects

Óscar Domínguez.

Catálogos, libros, etc.

Óscar Domínguez.

Catálogos y libros.

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