Swimming

“Swimming” (2010) by Jorge Blanco incorporates his half-moon faced everyman. The three figures look similar but have subtle differences in their shared shape, using the brain’s desire for symmetry and patterns to compel us to explore further. For example, the top and bottom men are mid-stroke on the left, while the one in the middle is mid-stroke on the right. The use of two different blues also contributes to the movement that Blanco so effortlessly brings to all his work, as if they are rushing out of deeper waters into the shallows, and the negative space in the eyes of the figures is filled with the same watery juxtaposition. The figures are all the same black shade, which further emphasizes the contrast in blue, and suggests that they are swimming at night, under the light of the moon that has so inspired the artist throughout his life.