Paolo Salvador | Silencios entre el mar, los ríos y montañas

Goodman Gallery presents a new suite of allegorical paintings by Peruvian-born, Berlin-based artist Paolo Salvador in partnership with Peres Projects. The artist continues to draw on a developing vocabulary of mythic imagery, commenting on universal themes relating to home and displacement as well as joy and grief. His painting practice presents a distinct “cosmovision” in which art, science and spirituality are intricately intertwined.  

The artist grew up surrounded by dramatic Peruvian scenery, which occurs throughout his work: “that grey sky and the humidity, it evokes so many memories. I believe growing up next to the sea instils a different mindset”. He attended a school with a zoo attached which bred endangered species: “my memories of all the different birdsongs in the morning, birds flying into our classroom and other animals escaping their designated areas – these are unforgettable experiences”. 

Salvador’s canvases present a harmonious cosmological aesthetic defined by a vision of ecosystemic balance in which nature encompasses culture, economy, society and religion. His naked figures, presented alongside plants and howling with various animals, form a distinct visual language through which Salvador acknowledges a long history of mutualism and references ancient Andean and Amazonian representations of animals with anthropomorphic features: “the creatures in his work reflect the deep biodiversity he grew up surrounded by – something that has become increasingly endangered” (Financial Times).