“Negro Sobre Blanco y Viceversa

When does abstract art become figurative? This is a question answered when discovering the new black and white series of paintings by Brenda Franco. There is no doubt that these are abstract paintings, yet, there is also no doubt that we are seeing a forest semi hidden in a sea of fog, a gushing rivlet of crystal waters, a horizon, a moonscape. The expressionist freedom of the artist's brush stroke dances across the canvas without restraint. There is joy in this action, it is instinctive and honest. Franco's earlier works had this same ability to recreate landscape in abstraction, but tended towards an innocent romantic vision of the world. The palette was always to do with whites and different shades of bluish grays, with paint applied in carefully constructed layers. The action was planned and controlled, producing beautiful works of a nuanced vision. However, this new series of white into black and black into white, appears to be somehow of a more mature nature. The age of romantic innocence has somehow given way to a more carefree, all-accepting grown-up romanticism, to a dance with reality rather than one with dreams, to an acceptance of life the way it is rather than what one dreams of in one's youth. And quite frankly not only accepting but really liking this reality. There is passion in this work, Alegria, a sustained curiosity of looking forward to what's next. Bring it on, she seems to be saying. She's looking forward to the next chapter, she's ready for life's party. And she is inviting us to join in the party with this new and very exciting eouvre.

Margaret Failoni,

San Miguel de Allende

May 2014