Cactus Blossoms XII

About Juan Fortes

The blossoming of flowers is a graceful moment as well as a historical motif in art. Van Gogh, Caravaggio, and Jan Brueghel the Elder all devoted themselves to floral subjects, resulting in unforgettable works. Juan Fortes carries on this… Read more

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Work Info

Cactus Blossoms

Succulents are one of the most uniquely evolved branches of the plant kingdom. Cacti, in particular, have undergone extreme physical adaptations to survive and thrive in their desert habitats.
A living contradiction, their graceful flowers stand in stark contrast to their contorted, otherworldy stems. It’s this fascinating contrast between the simple and the complex that Juan Fortes explores in his new series of digitally-altered photographic artworks. A multi-disciplinary artist, Fortes creates his lifelike works through a careful process of arranging, photography, painting and editing.

Photographed at dusk, the desert plants - including prickly pear, Peruvian apple and the dragonfruit cacti - merge into a single verdant tableau. Despite their arid environment, the compositions are bursting with life. Fortes deftly illuminates his subjects, highlighting the rich contrast between the deep green stems and the bright blossoms. The engrossing visual effect is further heightened by the dense lattice of spines and stems, creating botanical vignettes that recall the vibrant beauty of underwater coral reefs.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The blossoming of flowers is a graceful moment as well as a historical motif in art. Van Gogh, Caravaggio, and Jan Brueghel the Elder all devoted themselves to floral subjects, resulting in unforgettable works. Juan Fortes carries on this long tradition through his Florescence series, combining tulips, lilies, and anthuriums to form unique compositions staged in his distinctive style. In an exciting blend of nearness and depth, he combines the enchanting beauty of flowers with the latent transience of their existence. To achieve this, he spent considerable time observing flower lifecycles – from bloom to dormancy – to capture their moments of greatest splendor.


The artist employs new techniques to create his latest works. While he usually focuses on the mediums of photography and painting, he utilizes a special high-resolution scanner for his Fluorescence series. This technology allows him to capture the magnificence of flowers through an extraordinary display of light and shadow. The process requires countless scanning passes, as well as a highly precise alignment of floral arrangements. Finally, Fortes edits each individual flower to give his works a depth and texture reminiscent of classic flower paintings. As a digital painter, he carries on a long tradition via new methods.



Space


Spectacular events occur in our solar system and Juan Fortes is making them tangible. His latest work is dedicated to solar flares, a tremendous galactic storm captured in an artwork that we can marvel at and experience ourselves. To achieve this, he combined and edited several images of the sun during particularly active phases. Electromagnetic connections take place within the star until finally the energy erupts, creating a gigantic explosion that shoots fields of energy and light outward. The artwork exposes the sun’s changing magnetic fields caused by these powerful explosions. Like this awesome event, the electric piece is not static, it moves thanks to modern lenticular technology. The Lenticular technique behind the Multi-Phase Editions combines several images and captures them within one piece, resulting in the appearance of movement. The viewer simply changes their standpoint, and the flares will begin to erupt, the dynamics of the explosion and the inherent galactic beauty of this marvelous spectacle are simply out of this world. 



Pure

A stunningly beautiful and exotic bird from the Amazon, the hyacinth macaw is also an endangered species. Multiple zoos are committed to supporting its reproduction to ensure the survival of the species. In his series on birds of paradise, the Ecuardorian painter and graphic designer Juan Fortes presents a life-sized hyacinth macaw in a noble and dynamic pose. In this multifaceted artwork, Fortes transmits the impression that the macaw is in full flight: wings beating powerfully while tail feathers swish in the wind. We can feel the bird’s power and imagine its calls reverberating through the rainforests of South America.

Fortes’ works are striking for many reasons. For starters, the colorful nudibranchs and birds really pop against the black background. Additionally, they exhibit the character of a biological illustration. It is another step in the long tradition of fusing art and science. Fortes understands the perfect way to show off the uniqueness of these exotic lifeforms. At the same time, he sharpens our awareness of their temporary beauty, which is on display in his pieces.

Fortes is fascinated by the exploration of previous centuries. There was a time when scientific expeditions were not common, and most artists had to finance such adventures themselves. It was an exciting time full of major discoveries as volumes full of previously unknown animals and plants were found. Today, many of these species are endangered. Fortes sees his work as a tribute to the artist-researchers of the past whose enthusiasm for nature and beautiful exotic lifeforms brought them into the public view.

Fortes finds inspiration among famous illustrators of the past who traveled the world to document wildlife, such as John James Audubon and Maria Sibylla Merian.

Cactus Blossoms

Succulents are one of the most uniquely evolved branches of the plant kingdom. Cacti, in particular, have undergone extreme physical adaptations to survive and thrive in their desert habitats.

A living contradiction, their graceful flowers stand in stark contrast to their contorted, otherworldy stems. It’s this fascinating contrast between the simple and the complex that Juan Fortes explores in his new series of digitally-altered photographic artworks. A multi-disciplinary artist, Fortes creates his lifelike works through a careful process of arranging, photography, painting and editing.

Photographed at dusk, the desert plants - including prickly pear, Peruvian apple and the dragonfruit cacti - merge into a single verdant tableau. Despite their arid environment, the compositions are bursting with life. Fortes deftly illuminates his subjects, highlighting the rich contrast between the deep green stems and the bright blossoms. The engrossing visual effect is further heightened by the dense lattice of spines and stems, creating botanical vignettes that recall the vibrant beauty of underwater coral reefs.

VITA

Born in 1986, Juan Fortes studied fine art and graphic design in Santiago de Guayaquil, Ecuador. Since then he has participated in several group exhibitions in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Malaysia.