Hernan Miranda
Hernan Miranda, internationally acclaimed artist, has works residing or previously exhibited in over 200 note-worthy permanent collections and institutions including: O.E.A. (Washington, D.C.), Lincoln Center Cork Gallery (New York, N.Y.), National Building Museum (Washington, D.C.), Queen of Apostles Church (Alexandria, VA), Salón Naciones Unidas and Gana Art Center (Seoul, Korea), Cruzada Internacional de Arte (Fundacion de Fernando Botero, Bogota, Colombia), and UNESCO (Paris, France).
The author of “bi-realism,” Miranda has achieved international recognition for his mastery of light with full tonal range, engaging perspective, magical composition, acrobatic balance of color and form, and thematic intrigue. Miranda’s unbelievable command of the brush is shaped by his fervent study of masters, Caravaggio, Cotan, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Morandi, and Lopez. So what is “bi-realism”? Miranda chooses to paint not on traditional canvas, but rather on carefully selected surfaces—tapestries and woods. Quite often, the tapestry is from his native homeland, Paraguay, other times it’s acquired during his travels. The imagery embedded in the fabric sometimes emerges in whole regions or in discrete parts of his paintings (above and bottom right, respectively). When painting on wood, Miranda simultaneously reveals and conceals its surface features -- his renderings of wooden backgrounds dance atop the true wooden base (bottom center). His own trompe-l'oeil technique creates an ambiguity between what’s rendered and what’s physically present. Dyads of simultaneous realities, the real and the virtual, the realistic and the surreal, elegantly melt. Miranda awakens us to the beauty surrounding us everywhere we look. His images—an orange, lace, an envelope, a violin at rest, a crumbled napkin—change our consideration of simplicity. His compositions are quiet and still, but they radiate a bold magnificience reminding us of the energy
inherent in strong visual forms.