The Decisive Moment

By José Manuel Ruiz Regil

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I observe the work of José Antonio Ochoa because I have no other choice—because when standing before his images, the gravitational pull of their enigma extracts me from this fragment of time and space, trapping me in a kind of dimensional portal where nothing exists but an eternal instant, ready for contemplation and nothing more.

The oil paintings on polyester presented by this young Mexican artist (Mexico City, 1990) are the result of his dedication to detail—both technical and philosophical—and the quantum leap he makes for himself by moving from nature to cinema. This journey began with his first aesthetic exploration (Ut Pictura Kinesis, 2018, Museum of Art of Querétaro), and continues with this second exhibition, now at Aldama Fine Art (Mexico City).

“Cinema slows down in Ochoa’s work to reveal an emotional dimension that resembles in praesentia contemplation,” writes Rosa Martínez-Artero (Murcia, 1961), professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of San Carlos at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In her essay José Antonio Ochoa. Habitar el paisaje (Dwelling in the Landscape), published in the exhibition catalog, she affirms her aesthetic alignment with the artist now presented by this visionary talent scout, our generous friend José Ignacio Aldama, at the start of 2022.

In the same catalog, the artist presents his master’s thesis, which, to me, is an aesthetic manifesto marking the path and destiny of his work and perhaps his life’s journey. There, he explains himself—or rather complicates himself:

“The Ut Pictura Kinesis project arises from a theoretical-practical effort. It is an investigation into cinema and the processes of its adaptation to painting. This project examines the interplay between painting and cinema as a generative force, exploring their mutual influence within the realm of artistic creation.”

In this second phase, the artist seeks to “return”—or evolve—from the film still to painting, adding the value of sublime contemplation. It is a process of refinement that, in its final step, allows not only seeing but also being and dwelling within the image. This is the “decisive moment.” It sounds metaphysical, and it is.

This path, discovered through patience and silence, through long hours of painting, meditating, and constructing inhabitable spaces with masterful technical rigor in the face of an often unbearable and maddening reality, is a spiritual exercise for anyone daring to look within themselves amid the chaos of the 21st century. It is also a response to the overwhelming stimuli of the streets, media, devices, urgency, and immediacy we demand from solutions. It offers slowness, contemplation, and reclaiming time for thought and self-observation—a revolutionary act.

Regarding Ochoa’s work, Martínez-Artero further states in her essay:

“Concepts like beauty and silence are key for viewers to engage in contemplation of these works. The mystery of the landscape is central to the theme. Beyond enjoying the rigor of the technical work, we are invited to share an attitude toward life. […] This is young, daring work—young because the horizon of its ambition is both clear and utopian; daring because, to reach that horizon, José Antonio Ochoa brings painting into dialogue with other contemporary representational languages—cinema in this case—and evokes the dialectical nature of the image with the intent to wound us.”

This term, wound, captures my attention. Expanding consciousness is always a personal process involving some pain, some loss—like making cuts in the fabric of perception to see beyond.

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The natural rebellion of an artist against social order, trends, majority opinions, and power, along with a constant search for alternatives to the mainstream, veers away from the noise and flashy marketing of the entertainment industry and becomes landscape. Yet, unlike the urban landscape, which reflects disordered immediacy—dirty, suffocating, broken, mechanical, electric, rusted—Ochoa presents a wide and distant frame of a place not necessarily recognizable, as its identity does not matter. Covered in clouds, mist, or low haze surrounding objects without symbolic intent, his works transform the everyday view into mysticism. They invite us to penetrate mystery (God, life, knowledge, the unknown, imagination, the inner world, the sacred) through the sublime observation of nature.

These paintings, inspired by film stills, re-signify a single frame of celluloid to make it unique and remarkable—a frame that might pass unnoticed within a cinematic sequence but, to a calm and attentive eye, reveals its magnificence. Seeking such an image with premeditation might either prove incredibly difficult or strip it of its spontaneous honesty.

This is why the moment where eye and consciousness meet—moving from cinema to painting—becomes an instant where many external and internal elements converge. Subtle techniques are deployed within the bluish-gray space, where the concrete dissolves into the mist, leaving behind an illusion of encapsulated, intimate, and personal moments. These are visual poems, like the thorn bush over a grave, a quick glance at the feverish flames of a fire, or a tree seen through the rear window of a moving car that, rather than instilling fear with its destructive potential, astonishes and elevates our spirit with its fury.

I strongly recommend reading the essay in the aforementioned catalog, where the artist explains his motives and goals, as well as his discoveries in his personal process. He contextualizes his work by naming the artistic influences and aspirations that shape his vision, even mentioning specific films and directors that inspire him. He does not neglect a mandatory review of late 19th-century English and German Romantic painters, whose gaze into the abyss of raw nature transformed their era.

Perhaps we are living through a cyclical moment, but I am sure that today’s response requires going much deeper. This is the opportunity.

José Manuel Ruiz Regil is a poet, publicist, and cultural analyst. Author of Vario mar incesante (essay), El testamento del caminante, and founder of the idea lab Disrupted. He is working on his next essay collection, Para nombrar el asombro,and has been an editorial collaborator with Aldama Fine Art since 2009.