Otomana

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Art · Subcategory: Sculpture · Year: 2008 · Authors: Leopoldo Emperador

The title of the work attempts to portray two meanings, firstly the Turkish woman, (otomana) and secondly divan (or Turkisth poetry), which is another meaning of the word. "The sculpture is a drawing in space, in empty spaces, and busy spaces”, according to the sculptor himself. Emperor took 19th century French painters as a reference, such as Delacroix and Degas, who had taken the Arab world as their reference. 

Leopoldo Emperador may well be the last orientalist sculptor of the 21st century, if we weren't still in a post-modern era. That doesn't mean we are in the presence of an objectively post-modern artist, but by drinking from the visual fountain of the Orient, he delves into the wealth of history, as well as creating a Romanesque inspiration. Leopoldo makes full use of all the “neos” —neo-romantic, neo orientalist, neo-expressionist, neo cubist, neo-drawing in the air, etc.— as formal elements that allow him to develop a quality sculpture. His characteristic sharp focus on freedom, both in his technique of exception and in the models of inspiration where he enhances his creative processes, does not tie him down to a tired style, but positions him as a carrier of the great tradition of formal exploration of iron sculpturing that has been developed since this new material came to the fore at the beginning of the 20th century.

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