Fernández’s practice is influenced by the history of Modernism in Latin America, and specifically in Venezuela. As such, his works are preoccupied with ideas of geometry, line and form in relation to spatial politics and concepts of time and rhythm. As with his earliest works, his series 'Erotes' and 'Lingam' explore theories of gender, encouraging reflections on the body and a reinterpretation of archetypal expressions of eroticism and desire in the Avant-Garde movements of the twentieth century. His works also reference earlier moments from art history, for example, visual perspective in Italian Renaissance architecture, inspired by a childhood lived in Florence, as well as ancient architectural motifs such as Caryatids.
Constructed from various materials, including plywood, resin, fibreglass-reinforced gypsum and MDF, Fernández’s achromatic works play with concepts of neutrality and space with the aim of constructing differing spatial relationships between the works of art and the viewer. The sculptures at once convey a totality and opaqueness while at the same time suggesting a lightness and softness through the use of organic lines and scale. Fernández’s relief works in particular play with this juxtaposition as he manipulates solids and voids through the use of light and shadow, revealing structural complexities.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1957, Fernández earned a Higher Diploma in Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1988. His work has been exhibited at galleries and museums internationally in both North and South America as well as Europe, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center, New York, the Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.