Optic Nerve
- 208 pages
- 8 hours of reading
An Argentinian woman obsessed with art conflates personal events from her life in Buenos Aires with fascinating episodes from art history, refracting her personality through the canvases she studies
Maria Gainza Books
María Gainza is an Argentinian author whose writings delve into the intricate relationship between art and human experience. Her work, lauded for its sharp analysis and poetic style, explores how visual art shapes our perception of the world and ourselves. Gainza intricately weaves together history, memory, and identity within artistic creations, offering readers fresh perspectives on the art world. Her critically acclaimed fiction debut marks a compelling entry into her literary explorations.
"In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society. But who is this absurdly gifted creator of counterfeits? What motivates her? And what is her link to the community of artists who congregate, night after night, in a strange establishment called the Hotel Melancólico? On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation, she warns us 'not to proceed in expectation of names, numbers or dates... My techniques are those of the impressionist.' "-- Amazon.com
