Arcadia Contemporary | 11/11-12/3 | New York, NY

In/Out of Focus

A solo show at Arcadia Contemporary features the graphite drawings of Ivan Franco Fraga.

The graphite art of Ivan Franco Fraga plays with the idea of art and photography. One might even go so far as to say he blurs the lines between the two. In fact, when viewing one of his drawings, you might first think you’re looking at a photograph. Not because it’s so photorealistic (although his work is extremely detailed), but because they’re blurry—partially in focus, partially out of focus. Just like a photograph.

Ivan Franco Frago working on a graphite drawing.

During an exhibition titled Focal Distance at Arcadia Contemporary this fall, Fraga will be showing his latest body of work.

“Focal Distance refers to a specification found in photographic lenses. These specifications measure the distance from the center of the lens to the plane where the image is captured (sensor, film, etc.)," explains Fraga. "With the different focal lengths that we can have in the lenses, we can make different images. Since I have been taking photographs, I have always liked to [explore] with different lenses to get some great blurs. I think that blur is a very particular characteristic of the photographic image. And that is what has caught my attention in my drawing and painting work.”

Like a Polaroid, graphite on paper, 4 x 4"

In Girl with Braid, her plait of hair is drawn in sharp focus, while the edges of her shoulders and ears gradually become softer and fuzzier. Pieces like ISO 200. 50mm. f 1.2 1 100seg (a title that draws from photography terms) and Unfocused Hand are both completely “out of focus,” while pieces like Rose are much more crisp and clear.

Unfocused Hand, graphite on paper, 8 x 8"

Girl with Braid, graphite on paper, 8 x 8"

“Since I focused my work on the photographic image, I have always looked for the characteristics of the photographic: blurs, film grain, black and white,” Fraga continues. “And the intention of it being photographic is so that the observer questions the reality of what [they’re looking at]. When you see a drawing, you doubt its appearance. [I] make it look like a photograph instead of a drawing, even when framed…With this idea, the questioning of perception is raised. In the images, things are not what they seem.”

ISO 200. 50mm. f 1.2 1 100seg, graphite on paper, 59 x 47"

Fraga says that achieving a blurry appearance in his drawings is actually quite simple. It’s about working with gradients, slowly and gradually, day after day. “It’s like…a puzzle,” he says. “The parts will make a whole. It’s funny how [one] small part doesn’t give us almost any information; we don’t recognize it with anything [in particular]. But if we put together all the other insignificant parts that would make up a portrait, we can witness a person.”