Live painting. Pictures of characters made in about an hour and painted upside down, sometimes sharing the stage with other performing arts.
13 May 2025, the artist from Huelva (Andalusia) and resident in Meissen was invited by a Commission of Saxony headed by the Minister President Michael Kretschmer and the Minister of Culture Klebsch, to carry out an Action Painting performance, thus contributing, as an international artist based in Saxony, to the promotion of the German region within the framework of the Festival of Cultural Diversity held at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris under the patronage of the French National Commission for UNESCO. For the occasion, the Andalusian artist was joined by the Permanent Delegate Ambassador of Spain to UNESCO, H.E. Mr. Miquel Octavi Iceta i Llorens, among other personalities among the 400 people attending the Louvre Museum.
His most recent performances took place at the Museum of Malaga at the invitation of the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Andalusian Agency for Cultural Institutions, and the Andalusian Institute of Flamenco to take part in the program of activities commemorating the 15th anniversary of Flamenco as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The artist was accompanied by outstanding flamenco talents and professionals such as Lucía La Piñona, María Marín, and La Lupi.
Among his most famous public Action Paintings are the portrait “nick” (Nick Cave) at Galleri Christoffer Egelund (Copenhagen) at Bredgade Open 2017 and “david,” the portrait of David Bowie (Tribute to David Bowie at Gallery 401contemporary, Berlin) for the series “Berlin, echt!,” the portrait of Dr. Peter Funken, curator of the Berliner Liste 2014 (Berlin Contemporary Art Fair 2014), and that of the mayor and governor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, at the 25th anniversary celebration of the twinning of Madrid and Berlin (2013). Other paintings of this kind include the tribute to flamenco singer Enrique Morente, sharing the stage with Lagartija Nick, Los Planetas, Soleá Morente, and Arcángel (2011).
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What is action painting?
Action painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. It emphasises the physical process of painting itself, with the artist acting spontaneously and intuitively.
In the case of Emilio Fornieles, as his mentor José Saramago rightly pointed out, his expressionism is figurative, drawing on the abstract chaos of forms, tones and expressions to achieve figurative order.
Some characteristics of action painting are:
Spontaneity and immediacy
Dynamic brushstrokes and movements
Expressive use of paint and materials
Emphasis on the creative process rather than the final product
Well-known artists associated with action painting include Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko.
In the context of the painting ‘Louis’ (the last action painting by Emilio Fornieles, painted in the Louvre Museum), the action painting technique may have been used to create a dynamic and expressive representation of the portrait of Louis de Funès. As well as other portraits painted live by Emilio: Enrique Morente, Picasso, Paco de Lucía, Karel Gott, Franz Kafka, David Bowie, Nick Cave, etc.
