Ernesto Cánovas: Interiors

Ernesto Cánovas’ interiors feel welcoming; their warm sepia tones draw us in and invite us to take a seat. Looking at the décor, we know we are looking back in time; they spark a memory or feeling of a place once experienced. Perhaps we have seen this place as a child, in a film, or in a family photograph.  On occasion, there are people present in the work, their identities always concealed in true Cánovas style, while at other times we are alone, standing in silence within a quiet interior. These scenes are often very stylised with an aesthetic that nods to the artist’s interest in mid-century modern design. Equally, they reflect Cánovas’ Spanish heritage, fusing history and culture and influence into a single scene. Ultimately, these scenes act as visas or thresholds into a private space, thick with light, dust, and memory.

In Intimacies, the viewer is transported into a living room occupied by seated figures. Cánovas structures the scene so that we look into it from over the shoulder of the woman in the foreground. Two additional individuals, a man and a woman, are positioned across from her, both resting their chins in their right hands. A pair of crossed legs to the woman's left suggests the presence of another person in the room. As the title suggests, the viewer is observing a private conversation in an intimate domestic setting. Cánovas obscures the identities of two front-facing figures by applying brightly coloured shapes across the picture plane. This technique introduces ambiguity, as the expressions and, consequently, the nature of the interaction remain concealed.

The décor of the home situates the scene within a specific historical context. Cánovas’ interiors reflect a clear interest in mid-century modern aesthetics and twentieth-century design. The spaces feature iconic furniture pieces, including the Wassily chair, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925–26, and the Diamond Chair, designed by Harry Bertoia in 1952. Additional elements, such as framed pictures on the wall, a vase of flowers and trinkets on the coffee table, a plush white carpet, and a well-maintained collection of plants, contribute to this sense of domesticity. Like any home, it is the collection of personal items that makes it feel intimate. This heightens the experience of the artwork, with the viewer sensing they are stepping into a place that once existed, a scene full of the memories of a space that was once lived in and enjoyed.

Across his interiors, Cánovas gives equal attention to how spaces may be charged by the absence of figures.  In Shadows and Comfort, we encounter a scene that is as wild as it is domestic.  In the foreground, a brown corduroy sofa sits beneath a large spherical pendant light. The light’s form recalls the iconic Akari orb and sphere light sculptures designed by Isamu Noguchi in the 1950s. Like in Intimacies, the artist injects the scene with colourful forms, disrupting our reading of the subject, and refocusing our attention on form and materiality. Behind the seating and above the light are wooden posts and blinds, suggesting we are in some sort of structure. Curiously, when we extend our examination to what’s behind the furniture, we are greeted with a very different setting: a dense tropical forest with a waterfall. This juxtaposition prompts reflection on the relationship between nature and the artificial. In this scene, they appear to coexist peacefully, like the figures in Intimacies and their many houseplants.

The openness of the wooden structure creates a blurred boundary between the interior and exterior, and on closer inspection, these lines become more ambiguous. For example, it is evident that the waterfall is landing on a pile of rocks at its base, creating a ripple effect in the water below. The concentric lines of the water spread out towards a form next to the sofa. It is unclear whether this is a large rock or some type of footstool. It appears to be buttoned at the top, echoing the sofa seat, yet, equally, its form reflects the neighbouring boulders that run behind the sofa.

Cánovas’ interiors often fuse elements of the artist’s Spanish heritage with classic mid-century modern design. The compilation of image fragments parallels the construction of his paintings. Cánovas’ pieces consist of a series of panels, attached together, deliberately falling short of perfect alignment. Consequently, these works evoke the artistic tradition of tiling. Tile art is a deeply rooted artistic medium in the artist’s native Spain: from the buildings of Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona to the ornate interiors of 11th-century Moorish palaces. Cánovas continues this Spanish artistic tradition in an unmistakably contemporary way. In Let’s Get It On, we can see this technique in full effect.

This artwork belongs to Cánovas’ Domus series, whichtakes its name from the Latin word for a type of townhouse. A domus was a particularly aristocratic form of Roman urban dwelling, generally decorated with sculptures, mosaics, intricate tiling and other objects that now exist as artefacts on display in museums. Famous examples of these structures have been excavated from the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and inside all manner of priceless artefacts have been uncovered; contained within the ruins of a Roman domus are windows into the past; memories of how another civilisation lived. Many of the Domus works capture interiors with a design focus, adding to the association of the word domus with architecture and design, as it was also the name of an architecture and design magazine popular throughout the second half of the 20th century. In particular, copies of Domus from the 1980s are an inspiration for Cánovas, yet this is not the only place he sources images from. Canovas draws from a large personal archive consisting of vintage magazines, books, postcards, and film negatives. Drawing from such an eclectic collection of sources means no two interiors feel the same.  Each work offers a unique vista into another world: familiar and inviting, yet situated in a space that feels both historical and ambiguously timeless.