What if the stories we call myths are not meant to give us answers, but to lead us toward questions we might otherwise never ask?
Contemporary artist Paulo Jimenez explores that space between the known and the mysterious in “The Thin Veil,” a new exhibition opening Sept. 4 at Starry Night Gallery.
Through paintings inspired by the Fountain of Youth, mythology and symbolic narratives, Jimenez examines transformation, possibility and humanity’s enduring fascination with what may exist just beyond what we can see.
Jimenez’s connection to art began early. As a child, he was constantly drawing and attending art classes with friends. Then came an unexpected encounter that would change the direction of his life: someone recognized something in his work and offered to teach him. For the young artist, the experience created a powerful feeling of being chosen, a moment of encouragement that helped turn an early fascination with drawing into a lifelong pursuit.
That sense of connection remains central to his work today. Jimenez finds particular meaning in hearing the stories people bring to his paintings — the memories they recognize, the emotions they experience and the interpretations that sometimes surprise even him.
In his paintings, Jimenez frequently works with gold and silver leaf to suggest places where what we know meets what we cannot yet understand. Unlike conventional painted surfaces, silver leaf changes as the viewer moves. Light appears, disappears and shifts across the painting, creating a visual metaphor for the exhibition’s central idea: the thin veil between the visible and the unknown.
The Fountain of Youth becomes more than a Florida legend in Jimenez’s work. It represents transformation and possibility. What fascinates him is not whether the legendary fountain actually existed, but what human beings have been willing to do because they believed it might.
For Jimenez, this is why myths remain relevant. Even in the modern world, people remain captivated by stories of the hidden, unexplained and supernatural. Myths allow us to approach questions that logic alone might never prompt us to ask.
The exhibition includes “The Fountain of Youth,” “The Enlightenment,” “The Awakening of Ponce de León,” “The Secret,” “The Keeper” and “The Covenant of the Shore.” Three of the six paintings revolve around the Fountain of Youth, reflecting Jimenez’s long artistic connection with St. Augustine. He has painted the city and its history for years, and it has become one of the recurring landscapes of his artistic imagination.
In addition to producing his own works, Jimenez teaches art at St. Augustine Beach Art Studio every Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.
To learn more about Jimenez and “The Thin Veil,” go to artdetails.com.
Jimenez is represented by Lost Art Gallery in St. Augustine.
