Critiques of Joan Mas' Painting
« [...] The great virtue of this painting is the powerful expressive force of its serenity, which is not only due to the seated peace of experience, but to a true wisdom and intelligent sensitivity. Joan Mas's already old maturity is an tirelessly creative maturity, with a breath that has not only never faltered, but has strengthened over time. »
« [...] Light and color give vigor and rhythm to each of his constructions, revealing him as a true painter, knowledgeable of the secrets of the palette and the handling of materials. While the subject matter is necessary, it will be dominated by the expressive force of each stroke that will influence his oils. »
« Joan Mas, as an artist, is a passionate of gray tones. In his paintings, we always find the atmosphere of cities like Paris and Amsterdam, where he has lived for long periods and to which he frequently returns. He appreciates the order that we still qualify as European, although in the new geopolitical system in which we find ourselves, we are all part of Europe. But I think we understand each other when it comes to plastic arts, as in his paintings, there is a sensible vision of life in society. Even when he paints children playing in the snow - one of his themes - the dynamics of the freely manifesting children have something of ballet, of a work with an internal musicality that gives each gesture captured a sense of movement. However, Joan Mas is also Mediterranean, and lately, he has expressed it in a special way. He needs to express himself with measure, without excess, taking refuge in the satisfaction felt by the good farmer when contemplating the well-worked field, the garden that manifests with organized pride, the trees beginning to bear fruit, the houses with white lime on the walls and red roofs, and in the distance, the sea deep blue under a gray sky announces beneficial rain. Everything must have harmony within each human action, and perhaps because he knows that here, many times, we let ourselves be carried away by impulse, he always puts wisdom into the art he offers us. Wisdom and impulse have become clichés when it comes to explaining the Catalan character, and nowadays, when we are so mixed up in terms of needs, tastes, and customs, their credibility is almost nil. But personally, I believe that in the case of Joan Mas, a painter who has been trained by looking and feeling beyond ourselves, the reference is correct in terms of moderation, wisdom, and balance. I think that, even if he doesn't show it, he is passionate, but not impulsive. That's why in his work, there is a background of truth that arises from his desire for purity that sets aside exaltations. He seeks the light that never goes out, the one that does not burn itself but is continually renewed because it integrates into the eurhythmia that is so necessary to feel the joy of existing for oneself and for others within a generous sharing that, ultimately, is art. »
« Geometric rhythm is Joan Mas's hallmark when facing the canvas. Faced with a landscape, he draws a series of master lines that mark the movement that will occur within it. Verticality and horizontality give rise to the forms that Joan Mas positions, bringing depth to life. Urban views are a beloved theme for the artist: Paris, Chartres, Honfleur, and Venice are places he has visited to set up his easel and work from reality. He idealizes it, allowing only his fantasy to become compositional elegance; sometimes he merely hints at forms, sketching chairs that barely stand out from the rest of the canvas, yet create an ambiance that blends with the depicted gardens. Occasionally, he is carried away by the beauty of a Venetian church, resulting in bold frames and striking angles. Joan Mas sets aside what could dominate his work, disrupts it, and seeks the essence in a synthesis. Once achieved, he tunes the canvas with total control of color, always within cool, bluish palettes, which he nuances with the spatula until achieving a distortion-free tonality. It's the work of someone who has reached conclusions, who has very clear ideas. Joan Mas has set premises for himself and maintains them; his work, constructivist and structuralist, is firm, profound, and serious. »
« In an atmosphere or climate - which embraces the entirety of his painting - made of blues and grays that accurately captures the ideal air of the city of the Seine, the painter Joan Mas has created the extensive set of works that he is presenting at the Galería Comas. Belonging to the Grup Passig de Gràcia, he is characterized by the use of a language that - stemming from post-impressionism - employs a diction that combines, to give its version, known knowledge that the artist translates into images of personal result. Thus, the motifs of his representative theme find suitable figuration supported by very well-structured schemes that, geometricizing reality, allow him to repeat it - using brush and spatula - essentialized while enriched by a well-tempered succession of nuances and transparencies of singular diction. Referring to the light and rhythm that construct the motifs of his painting leads to highlighting the quality that arises from the material: a safe vehicle that transports the beauty of some scenarios, presented in very apt frames, contemplated and transcribed with the sensitivity of a true poet of image and color. »
« Joan Mas seems to have gathered the best of all 'isms', articulating them in a very personal style. He reaches synthesis by eliminating the superfluous from landscapes; hence the impression of his works, highly structured and beneath whose organization geometric positions are registered. But, at the same time, all this instrumentation and search for the ultimate constructive essences of the landscape do not separate his images from a confrontation with reality, always posed in his works. And resolved with very subtle nuances, where post-impressionist discoveries are evident as determinants. On this occasion, Joan Mas unfolds his work within the same range; subtle gradations of grays and blues, very suitable, mainly, to narrate his Parisian theme. Sometimes he incorporates delicate pink tones, as in a lyrical vision of the Seine River, or achieves a greater chromatic diction in his palette, always so restricted, in 'La Rochelle'. Let us especially highlight his scenes of Honfleur, the port that charmed the impressionists and continues to captivate current painters. Joan Mas develops a work rich in sensitivity and elegance. His color never unravels, adjusted to a canon that is both brilliant and restrained. Atmospheric values are carefully attended to in these pieces. »