LUINOUS ENCHANTMENT
Gastón Diehl
President, Museum of Latin American Art
Monte Carlo, Monaco

Among the motifs generally selected by the painters of naif paintings and widely appreciated by the public, particular in Latin America, figure the diverse ceremonies or public festivities, the small towns with their houses and little spaces, their churches, etc., that evoke, either through fantasy or the imagination of the artist, a time stopped, a moment in a peaceful period already passed or at least on the way to disappearing with the advance of civilization.

The contribution of the naif painters in the majority of these countries appears to be especially precious, like a memory of a changing world that a candid look, although less so than one believes, fixes down to the smallest details in eternity. This passionate concern for the most detailed precision finds the finest enchantment for the collected and entertained multitudes that face the desert narrow streets.

The performance of Isidro Con Wong, ¡f we relate it in good measure to the family of naifs, is, nevertheless, distinctive and follows a plan that I would happily qualify as superior. Above all, we have witnessed here ¡n Monaco his tenacity, his desire to transed even after successive years of critical success. On the other hand, with similar patience, he has not only improved his technique but also those particular themes where he affirms his personality. With that excellence, so sensitive fresness, he has achieved an attractive whole.

Though possessing an almost decorative character, his compositions are constantly renewed by the mastery that he demonstrates in the use of acrylics, treating them with a delicacy and a range of luminous harmonies.

Thus, we tirelessly amuse ourselves with his marvelous' landscapes, with his visionary air, always alike and different at the same time. Fantastic landscapes, where the vegetal eshuberance of the tropics is mixed with the familiar animals, he transports us to another universe. We con­cede to such a genuine poetic enchantment while never tiring of such a rich and subtle diversity.

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