55.Artist appreciation

Por el rio del tiempo No. 1 (graphite, 45 x 45) by Francisco Souto

Francisco Souto is a native of Venezuela who now lives in Nebraska, he is never content to repeat a project. “My biggest fear,” he says, “is to realize that I’m copying myself.”

But upon close inspection, Souto’s output is tied together in several ways. Thematically much of his work betrays an interest in the nature of human memory and in notions of place and spatial relationships. Furthermore, the range of subjects, media, and techniques that at first makes Souto’s artwork appear so varied also, in a way, unites it, as all his work evinces a passion for seeking new ways to create images and express ideas visually. The fact that Souto is always changing is one of the most consistent things about him.

The relationship between place and memory has proven fruitful ground for Souto before. In this series, the artist turned to memories of the more mundane variety. “There are so many things you see when you travel, so many different cultures, so many places you cannot forget about,” Souto says. “For years I made art about these big experiences and big memories. But there are also other memories, which I call ‘collateral images.’ They’re smaller moments that stick with you. With ‘Ecos de la memoria,’ I wanted to make a complete show based on these smaller images. I decided to blow them up to a big scale, which is an homage to these small experiences.

Seascape No. 3, Barcelona, Spain (graphite, 60 x 23) by Francisco Souto, from the series “Ecos de la memoria”

Poetica de la memoria No. 3 (archival pigment print, 46 x 33) by Francisco Souto

The word “memory” comes up a lot when discussing Souto’s work. So does the word “time.” Consider the titles of several of his exhibitions: In addition to “Echoes of Memory,” there is “The Poetry of Memory,” “The Memory of Time,” and “Through the River of Time.” In all these works, the artist investigates the ways that memory shapes our experiences and our enduring impressions of the world.