On May 12th, Castor Gallery in NYC will be opening an exhibition of paintings and charcoal drawings by Kepa Garraza. The show titled Riot is inspired by civil unrest, uprising and rebellion.
Divided in two parts, the Bilbao-based artist’S NYC debut consists of six charcoal drawings showing masked anarchistic protestors and six oil paintings depicting the aftermath of vandalism at galleries and art institutions. Both inspired by similar actual events seen around us, these fictional works continue Garraza’s practice to create work in series. The idea behind these pieces is to question what is truth and what is fiction by showing imaginary scenarios in a hyperrealistic manner. The tensed setting of the drawings is accented by the dark black charcoal and the chiaroscuro technique, very much in contrast with the oil paintings showing destroyed contemporary artworks in bright white cube spaces. The artist will be in attendance for the opening reception from 7-9 pm.
