Biography
If Gustavo Novoa´s art was once considered ¨naif¨, it stopped being so
a long time ago due to the implicit aesthetic proposition in each painting
and the stylistic treatment with which his harmonious compositions, regardless
of their themes, are conceived. They carry the distinct stamp of authorship
inherent in all of Novoa´s work.
His touch cannot be confused. The simplicity in his paintings appears
in the spirit of the characters that inhabit his idealized faunas and
not through a naiveté concerning the drawings or the color, which, on
the contrary, are in permanent alliance and interact to produce a spatial
effect creating a chromatic perspective often used by Novoa. With this,
he demonstrates an absolute dominance of his craft and transmits to the
spectator an air of eternal freshness which his paintings possess due
to his pure technique. Occasionally framed by bright foliage through which
blue skies glimmer, his humanized beasts live peacefully.
They are the elements he uses as an expressive medium to bring us a message
of infinite cordiality and profound understanding. He also gives us subtle
moral lessons with a certain hedonistic touch that has the power to capture
our attention through the vigorous use of color. In a careful analysis
of Novoa´s painting, one of the first things we notice is that his subjects
cohabit in a romantic environment, which conveys a deep sensitivity toward
natures most exotic surroundings. For him, the words of the poet Moreas
ring true: "dress ideas with sensitive forms".
Feelings, emotion, and imagination are all the principal ingredients in
the creation of this paradise, where the spiritual will always prevail
in an art that is first and foremost an expression of faith. If for Dufy,
“impressionistic realism lost all its enchantment when contemplating
the miracle of imagination introduced in drawing and color”, for
Novoa, something similar has occurred. He does not conceive his work only
as a beautiful object in itself, nor does he present the “realities”
of the exterior world in his themes; instead, he expresses the perceptions
born of his meditation.
November 15th.2025. The Cornell Museum at Delray opened the most explicit exhibition of his work. Entitled “From Primitive to Surreal” making a clear distinction between the two styles where he seems to dwell at ease in his career.