José Parlá explores that delicate balance between creation and destruction. As if ancient relics recovered from some archeological dig, his paintings are like modern hieroglyphs each telling a story of a time and place, that of the here and now. While taking on a timeless feel, the protagonist in his tale has always been the city. Dynamic juxtapositions – roughness and fluidity, complexity and minimalism, harmony and chaos – illuminate the soul of his urban muse. With his first solo exhibition since Walls, Diaries, and Paintings (covered) in New York last March, Parlá continues riffing on the urban landscape and striking that delicate balance with a new body of work destined for OHWOW’s Los Angeles gallery.
Opening Friday, September 9th, Character Gestures will combine a spectacular collection of street inspired calligraphic paintings from the former graffiti writer turned fine artist, along with a unique installation composed of groups of colored rags used during painting wrapped together and hung from the ceiling. Also on display – and available to collectors – for the first time will be series of “mono-transfers”; works on paper that José uses as a tool to create as well as document certain sections of his large scale paintings. Canvas still wet with paint, ink and plaster, he presses the paper against the medium as a means of manipulating and creating texture within the piece. Simultaneously, color and context are transferred onto the paper itself in almost photo-negative fashion, resulting in a wholly unique creation derived from the same paint, ink, and plaster. All told, Angelinos should anticipate color, movement, texture and emotion on a dramatic scale, as Parlá and OHWOW yet again partner on a must-see show.
Check out additional preview images of some of the new paintings, along with a couple mono transfers after the jump.
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