Category: Museum Exhibitions

SUNSETS IN THE APOCALYPSE: New Works by Manuel Zamudio | EXHIBITS DECEMBER 2020

Thinkspace Projects presents:

MANUEL ZAMUDIO
Sunsets In The Apocalypse

December 12, 2020 through January 2, 2021

Manuel Zamudio comes to us from the depths of the talent rich city of McAllen, Texas. He was born in Mexico City, DF, and has made his way to Texas since 1992 at the age of 5. While dealing with the challenges that often come with assimilating to a starkly different culture at a very young age, Zamudio found refuge by immersing himself in art. As a self-taught artist, Zamudio started perfecting his technique by replicating comic books, without knowing or understanding the human figure, and the concepts of color schemes. Once Zamudio grew older he started taking an interest in the urban culture of South Texas, learning color scheme, perception, shadow and so on from local graffiti artist.

Zamudio’s new line of work has been immensely inspired by great works of cinematography, street art, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels. Using portraits as a snapshot of his own movie, blending reality with the surreal. Zamudio’s new work will be exploring new methods on how to bring cinematography onto the canvas. As Zamudio writes:

“What remains of aesthetics in a fading world? When the veil of order crumbles and the weariness of decay sets in, the soul of a society thrives, or dies based solely on the affirmations of its unique individuals upholding what identity there is left.

Although despair can weigh heavily even on the lightest of humanity, perseverance in the face of hopelessness, or even madness, can become the strongest fight against inhumane desolation. In the last vestiges of a dying culture, the embers of expression are imbued in even the dimmest of lights.”

Inside the studio of Uriginal aka Uri Martinez as he prepares for ‘Sweet Rage’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center

Inside the studio of Uriginal aka Uri Martinez as he prepares for ‘Sweet Rage’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center for NEXUS III

Since the beginning of the new millennium, a street art scene in Barcelona, Spain emerged and has quickly become one of the most vibrant in Europe. Among many Spanish urban artists who gained wide recognition and acclaim is Uriginal, a Barcelona-based creative who became known for his pieces inspired by historical masterpieces and popular imagery. He brings to life the famous subjects of iconic paintings by utilizing bright colors and bold lines, along with the use of a kaleidoscope geometric pattern throughout many of his artworks. His pieces grace the walls throughout Barcelona.

Influenced by individualized and distinctive style of the most famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí – especially his multicolored mosaics – Uriginal has developed a unique aesthetics and style that goes from the reinvention of Marvel Comics heroes to Pop Art to the characters of Star Wars, from Spanish painting or flamenco to the Barcelona Graffiti scene. He describes himself as “the son of a matador from high Ampurdán and a florist from the Ramblas of Barcelona” whose dream from childhood has been to become the national “King of paella”.

His characters are tessellated mosaics, seemingly in constant alteration, as if they were appearing or disappearing. The vivid color, humor, and irrepressible creativity, are all part of Uriginal’s alluring visual language.

Inside the studio of The Perez Bros as they prepare for ‘More Bounce’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center

Inside the studio of The Perez Bros as they prepare for ‘More Bounce’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center for NEXUS III.

The Perez Bros are identical twin brothers Alejandro and Vicente (born 1994) from South Gate, CA. After graduating from South East High School, they attended Otis College of Art and Design to pursue a degree in Fine Art focusing on painting. At Otis is where they began working as a collaborative duo.

They were exposed to the car culture in Los Angeles at a very young age. Their father has been a part of a lowrider car club for as long as they can remember. They are fascinated with the culture, from the cars to the models, to the people and the music. Through their paintings, they try and capture certain moments that they see when they attend car shows, that personify the experience for them. Larger paintings seem to capture the mood and feeling of these car events, while smaller paintings tend to capture more intimate events. Through their paintings, they hope to make the viewer feel as if they were attending a car show.

Inside the studio of Yosuke Ueno as he prepares for ‘Majestic Parade’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center

Inside the studio of Yosuke Ueno for ‘Majestic Parade’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center for NEXUS III.

A self-taught painter based out of Tokyo, Yosuke Ueno is known for his imaginative, character-driven worlds created in symbolic pursuit of innocence, hope, and positivity. These loosely narrative-based paintings evolve intuitively, the artist’s approach to his compositions seldom premeditated, preferring instead to embrace the creative tangents of his subconscious. By allowing the process of painting to dictate the outcome, the works host a recurring cast of playful creatures, hybrids, and psychotropic fantasies. The artist, amidst these playful gestures, emerges as an inventor of psychedelic metaphor and cultural pastiche, freely combining references to everything from Japanese culture, ancient Greek mythology, Tokyo Street fashion and video games to Disney animation and the Western canon of art history. Driven by a genuine desire to capture our philosophical interconnectivity through art, Ueno’s multicultural references coalesce through the unpretentious spontaneity of his imagination and a fundamental belief in the universality of a shared condition.

Unexpected juxtapositions and cleverly contradictory elements emerge and interact within Ueno’s worlds, while a surreal freedom conflates the ordinary restrictions of time and space in support of its fantasies. The ancient and the contemporary are continually recombined, existing on a timeless plane through the simultaneous referencing of the traditional and pop-cultural. The unexpected poetry of these alliances, much like the paintings themselves, reveal complex accretions of cultural sediment, the result of an unimpeded admixture of worlds. Anchored by the concept of Yin and Yang and the elemental balance of the light and dark forces it implies, Ueno’s works strive to capture the plasticity and flux of these energetic constellations as they vie for poetic balance and positive resolve.

Inside the studio of Leon Keer as he prepares for ‘Contradictions’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center

Inside the studio with Leon Keer as he prepares for his exhibition ‘Contradictions’ showing at The Brand Library & Art Center for NEXUS III.

Leon Keer is a world-leading artist in the anamorphic street art. He has executed commissions in Europe, The United States, Mexico, The United Arabic Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia, New Zealand, Australia and several Asian countries.

A message seems to be present in his work. Current issues are reviewed, such as environmental concerns and the livability of this world. Leon Keer is constantly aware of the playfulness and beauty versus the degradation around him, a contrast that he expresses and amplifies in his work and which he uses as a metaphor for live.

His paintings reflect his thoughts, confronting the viewer with the diseased spirit of our times, visible decay counter-pointing a timeless longing for unspoiled beauty.

The artist adds: “Every street art piece is unique and belongs to the street and its residents, the temporary fact about this artform strengthens its existence”