A series of presumed landscapes appears in front of us. I say alleged because abstraction allows infinite readings, but the colors refer to a dawn, to dusk. Federico Telerman’s painting suggests, not forces. The feeling is that of being in a known and unknown space at the same time. He space is ethereal, not heavy. Sleepwake.

Here, there is no distinction between what is real and what is invented. What I can assure is that the works that make up Duermevela are intimate, the product of a long and personal search. For many years Federico has been painting with his hands. His entire body is his brush. The large format canvas gives him the necessary space to express without any limits. This technique is what allows him to provide movement and life to the colors. But this series goes a little further. The trace of his fingers is more visible than ever. And that is what transforms this works on personal experiences.

To contemplate these acrylics, it is necessary to stop and concentrate. They demand get out of the ordinary time, out of trouble. The exercise of seeing them reminds me of first paragraph of The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock: “Swimming with another person – in open water, at night, a long distance without stopping – is like going for a walk without the weight, without the pressure of maintaining a conversation, of having to bring out what is inside. Imagine being with someone in a silent room, tension in the air; the water is denser and you can’t talk, you can’t stop moving. You accompany yourself in the effort, alone you see the silhouette of the other’s arm or head for a second, when you turn your head to breathe, just enough to make sure you’re not entirely alone”.

I like to think that the immersive experience of these works is like that of swimming in the dark with someone. No pressure, in a light space. Without speaking, in silence. But always with something or someone there: with the gesture of the artist present in each stroke, with the weight of the entire impressionist tradition behind it.

Sleepwake means light sleep, that in which someone who is dozing finds themselves, or who just gets up. It is that state where the limits between the dream and the real mix. It is where the surface and the water are not discernible. It is a moment of vulnerability, where we are more permeable to absorb the impressions of the color and movement. Federico is in charge of suspending time. We only have to float.

Lucía Matusevich
Buenos Aires, July 2024