Flowers for X: Patricia Eustaquio at Yavuz Gallery

25 Nov 2016

“In a way, the series Flowers for X walks between this fine line between the precious and the banal, presenting works that can perform this about-face in a dizzying, almost unsettling manner. As I stopped in front of Flowers for X, II (2016), I wondered if I was looking at a beautiful flower touchingly arranged—or an irreverent bunch of wadded up tissue paper, flung thoughtlessly on the ground after someone has blown their nose on them. It is hard to make up one’s mind about the paintings; it’s almost as if we have to hold our breath whilst approaching them. I am not sure what the trick being played here is, but it works. We want to take the painting seriously, to rave about its allure, enchantment, and sad, faded, glamour—but we can’t. The tissue paper remains in the picture, as much as the flower does. It is their Janus-faced quality that brings a hard edge, and a deeper depth to an otherwise pretty show.”

Junni Chen from ArtHop reviews Patricia Perez Eustaquio’s Flowers for X.