Ramel Villas is an old soul. Possibly influenced by the Renaissance and the art movement of Romanticism, which came about in the early 1800’s.
Romanticism as a form of expression in music, visual arts, theater and literature, was never really about love, affection and romantic relationships . Its root word is Roman, or Rome. “When in Rome” as they say.
And that means throwing away intellect, thinking, and rationality and to be the exact opposite, irrational, imaginative, spontaneous, emotional, moody and sensitive. And as Shakespeare sums it up, “To be or not to be, that is the question.” ...
Where does this painter take us? To stare at the paintings for a long time is to be transported back in time. It feels like getting lost inside a classic novel.
But most striking are his portrayals of women. Seductive, as a word to describe them, is an understatement. Downright erotic would probably suffice it best. It isn’t subtle. It is seduction for seduction’s sake.
In “After The First Rain”, a young woman sits under a tree, beside a basket full of pickings from trees in the forest. Women in bloom and fruits from trees, subconscious or intended, may be hints at pregnancy and later motherhood.
The drapes of her white gown, traces her full ripe shape and softly falls to reveal her neck, breasts and shoulder.
She gazes far and wide, lost in herself. Left hand caressing the passage between her legs. Left thigh crossed over to her right thigh, she is rooted in the moment. It is a nervous energy of the here and now.
Most of his paintings are ideas of women as a complex of many possibilities: maternal, glamourous, demure, efficient, vulnerable, domineering, pure, and wicked.
With sly humor, the tone of the painting is broken by sneaking in something not of that era. Specifically Nike Air Jordans, occasionally adorn his subject, bridging Modernity to the Renaissance. Because art transcends time and space. The themes are the same. The characters are the same. The plots are the same.
Perhaps, it is the artist’s intention to make the viewer see and feel as much if only for a while. An imagined trip to carry us away from our modern worries, and the temporariness of everything.
To throw away reason, and why not? Why not at all?
