Armour

Antonio Dias Charrua

Predating his move toward the angular, minimalist, color-saturated paintings he would become known for, Antonio Charrua’s delicately rendered “Armour” is a fine example of his knowledge of the plate. He expertly builds up a velvety black ink on the edges for a shadowy effect, from which the strange object - an amalgamation of the human skull and mechanical design - emerges. Charrua uses embossing to pull forward small, uninked islands of paper, providing the illusion of glinting light on metal.

Charrua was equally inspired by the Cubist works of Picasso and the emotive brushwork of Van Gough. He carried these influences throughout his career, one which was marked by distinct stylistic periods and involved not only the flat matrix but sculpture and mixed media, as well.