Firetti Contemporary features works of Reynier Llanes in ‘Reverie' show

Firetti Contemporary, the gallery where art and creative concepts align from the region and beyond, is hosting Reverie, the Middle Eastern debut of acclaimed Cuban-American artist Reynier Llanes (Apr. 14 - June 14).

- Muhammad Yusuf

Curated by Celine Azem, the exhibition showcases works from Llanes's celebrated series, The Poet, where themes of self-reflection, memory and storytelling, unfold through pictorial representation. The show draws inspiration - and gets its title - from the philosophy of "reverie", as articulated by French philosopher Gaston Bachelard in The Poetics of Reverie. Bachelard insisted that reverie is not a mental vacuum, but actually indicated an abundance of spirit.

For Bachelard, reverie was a state of contemplation where imagination and memory merged to reveal truths about the self and the world. Llanes embodies this vision, creating works that act as gateways to introspection, with reality and reflection playing major roles. Emotions and memories surface in his works, with the compositions sharing personal and universal qualities. Reverie, according to the artist, is not about escaping life's struggles but about reinterpreting them, in a space where emotions, memories and aspirations, interlink.

At the heart of Reverie is The Poet, an enigmatic figure observing the fleeting yet profound moments of life-self-discovery, nostalgia, love, and loss. Suspended between memory and imagination, The Poet exists in a state of perpetual contemplation. Through delicate line-work and atmospheric compositions, Llanes invites viewers into a zone of reflection and thought, where the boundaries between past and present, real and imagined, what was and what is, are blurred. He has the ability to balance melancholy and beauty, hardship and hope, loss and gain, which creates a tragic yet rewarding experience.