upheaval - jdmalat.com · 1 jdmalat gallery upheaval santiago parra 15th july to 15th august 2020

1MALATJD

G A L L E R Y

UpheavalSANTIAGO PARRA

15th July to 15th August 2020

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Santiago Parra Untitled, 2020 Acrylic on canvas167 x 262 cm

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It has taken the artist more than ten years to refine his technique and to this day he denies having fully mastered it. He has learnt through experimentation, trial and error and it has been a walk through an uncharted path as no one before him has done this. What is interesting and unique about his work is that it is not constrained to the actual act of painting but rather his entire life revolves around it and his painting depends on how he lives his life. Indeed, of the painterly process, Parra describes that ‘I’ve had to learn to listen to myself, to become conscious of life’s rhythm and of my own energy cycles, of how each thing has its own time and how nothing can be hurried’

His greatest influences are the Surrealists and their quest for truth by researching the unconscious as a source for art. Many people describe Parra as an abstract expressionist but there are many differences, mainly in the production process. Although abstract expressionists pushed the boundaries of abstraction they were still immersed in the tradition of western painting, whereas Parra’s work is not inscribed in traditional image-making but rather, is the result of a ritual where inner pulsions leave a trace on a canvas.

Colour is not used as a discursive or expressive element but instead it is used as a medium to render the gesture visible and fixate it. Abstract expressionism rather than being spontaneous gave the impression of spontaneity as most of its paintings involved careful planning and were made during months or even years, while on the contrary in Parra’s work you are not seeing the impression of spontaneity but rather the real thing, his paintings are created in seconds and in one single brushstroke. The artist is more interested in discovering the possibilities of automatism rather than painting in the traditional way. Parra manages to master automatism, unconscious is not depicted or illustrated in his work but rather it is its source. His goal is to create the conditions where only the unconscious is responsible for the creative process. Parra uses automatic painting to materialize his unconscious, to render it visible and at the same time cathartic.

Since Rising Action, Parra had a daughter which he said has changed him in a way that he had not expected, he has become more focused, more clear minded and this has undoubtedly translated into his work. In addition, Covid 19 has given Parra the opportunity to rethink his place in life, to question his values and aspirations. The upheaval that many worldwide experienced during the pandemic seems ever so accurately portrayed in his monochrome paintings. Now more than ever, Parra’s greatest desire is to make truthful art. If this is indeed the case then his desire is fulfilled, as Upheaval is the greatest portrait of truth one could wish for. Santiago Parra is in the collections of the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, USA, Jorge Pérez Collection, USA, Jean et Colette Cherqui Collection, France, Tanya C. Brillembourg Collection, USA, Solita Mishaan Collection, Spain, Cesar Gaviria Collection, Colombia, Kehinde Wiley Collection, USA, and Collection Lazaro, Spain.

JD Malat Gallery is proud to present Upheaval, a solo exhibition by Colombian artist Santiago Parra.

Following Rising Action, the ground breaking solo exhibition that took place in 2018, Santiago Parra is back with his most accomplished body of work to date. Parra has described this exhibition as being more refined and more attuned. He has changed the way paint is applied and chosen deeper blacks with subtle nuances resulting in a more defined brushstroke. The change of style can be attributed to the period of isolation enforced by Covid 19 which had a direct impact on the artist’s aesthetic.

The exhibition consists of fourteen mid to large format paintings created in a span of six months. These paintings were produced during the Covid 19 lockdowns, a time of intense emotional tension for the artist. As a result, immense amounts of energy exude from the paintings. There’s a lot of angularity and violent splatter, composition is highly dynamic, and the brushstrokes appear to vibrate out of the canvas. Indeed, the artist called the exhibition Upheaval after seeing the paintings together. He liked how the word upheaval refers both to a massive telluric movement and also denotes a violent disruption of his inner feelings.

The subject of these works is simple: Parra yearns to express himself in the freest possible way. In this quest, he has found automatism which was a technique developed by Surrealists, its goal is to express one’s inner world in the purest most accurate way without the control or judgement of social pressures exerted by consciousness. One prerequisite to this kind of work is having the real urge to do it. Parra explains that his ‘objective is to let the practice develop on its own, the less conscious intervention the better’. Covid 19 really helped the artist reach his ideal aesthetic by creating new emotions inside of him that led to these tormented yet energetic canvases.

Every element of the painting: the brush, the paint and the canvas are chosen following the principle of automatism, respecting the inner voice that decides without doubting it, the aim is to empower the natural creative instinct. With everything ready Parra stands in front of the canvas and a multitude of feelings start to affect him, anguish, pleasure, fear, confidence... Here the objective is to decant one’s mind and calm down, breathing is important in the way that each breath has its own tune and one has to find the one that attunes with the canvas. As Parra explains ‘The concentration is beyond intense, every nerve on my body crisps, my muscles vibrate with tension and I begin to roar in an attempt to conquer the canvas, this can last for hours...’

‘When suddenly without wanting it, my arms lift the brush and a splash marks the beginning of the painting, in stupor I watch how the brush moves up and down, side to side and something gets written down on the canvas, I know it’s my unconscious writing but while it happens I am a witness to it all. When the energy has come out I know it’s time to lift the brush out of the canvas. The painting has now finished, I look up, exhausted, seeing it for the first time, I am surprised, amazed, at how this intriguing image has come out of myself’- Santiago Parra

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Santiago ParraUntitled, 2020 Acrylic on canvas 180 x 180 cm

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Santiago ParraUntitled, 2020 Acrylic on canvas170 x 170 cm

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Santiago ParraUntitled, 2020 Acrylic on Canvas163 x 109 cm

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Santiago ParraUntitled, 2020 Acrylic on canvas 170 x 117 cm

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JD Malat Gallery

30 Davies St, Mayfair, London W1K 4NB +44 20 3746 6830

Santiago Parra CV b. 1986- Bogotá, Colombia Selected Solo Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

2020 Abstraction & The Natural World, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2019 Summer Exhibition 2019, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2018 MAC GALA, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Ciudad de Panama, Panama

2015

En el Mismo Idioma, Galería Isabel Aninat, Santiago de Chile, Chile

2014

Línea Blanda, curated by Oscar Roldán Alzate, Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

2013

6 ̊ Salón de Arte Bidimensional, Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño FUGA, Bogotá, Colombia

2011

VOID AND FEELINGS, Arevalo Gallery, Miami FL, USA

Selected International Art Fairs

2020 Temple, ZONA MACO, JD Malat Gallery, CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico

2019 Contemporary Istanbul, JD Malat Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

2019

Seattle Art Fair, JD Malat Gallery, Seattle WA, US

2019 ZONA MACO, JD Malat Gallery, CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico

2017 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

2017

ART LIMA, Galería Isabel Aninat, Lima, Peru

2017

ARTEBA, Galería Isabel Aninat, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2017 ARCO, Galería Filomena Soares, Madrid, Spain

2016 PINTA MIAMI, Galería Sextante, Miami FL, USA

2018 Rising Action, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK

2018 Monumental, Galería Sextante Bogotá, Colombia

2017 Galería ArteConsult, Ciudad de Panama, Panama

2014 Galería Filomena Soares, Lisbon, Portugal

2014 Galería Isabel Aninat, Santiago de Chile, Chile

2014 Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

2011 The Warehouse Art, Bogotá, Colombia

2010

Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

JD Malat Gallery


2016 ART LONDON, Lamb Arts, London, UK


2015 PINTA MIAMI, Galería Sextante, Miami FL, USA

2016 ARTBO, Galería Filomena Soares, Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

2016 ARTLIMA, Galería Isabel Aninat, Lima, Peru


2014

ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Bogotá, Colombia

2014 ESTART, Galería Filomena Soares, Estoril, Portugal

2014 PINTA, Galería Filomena Soares, London, UK

2014 ARTEBA, Galería Isabel Aninat, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2014 ART BRUSSELS, Galería Filomena Soares, Brussels, Belgium

2014 SP-ARTE, Galería Filomena Soares, Såo Paulo, Brazil

2014 THE ARMORY SHOW, Galería Filomena Soares, NY, USA


2014 ZONA MACO, Galería Filomena Soares, Mexico City, México

2014 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Colombia

2012 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Colombia 2012 ART MIAMI, Galería Sextante,

Miami FL, USA

2011 ARTEBA, Galería Sextante, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2011 CHACO, Galería Sextante, Santiago de Chile

2011 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Colombia 2010 ART MIAMI, Galería Sextante, Miami FL, USA

2010 ARTE BA, Galería Sextante, Buenos Aires, Argentina

2010 CHACO, Galería Sextante, Santiago de Chile, Chile

2010 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Colombia

2010 PINTA, Galería Sextante, NY, USA

2009 ARTBO, Galería Sextante, Colombia Selected Collections

Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, USA Jorge Pérez Collection, USA

Tanya C. Brillembourg Collection, USA Solita Mishaan Collection, Spain

JD Malat Gallery


Jean et Colette Cherqui Collection, France Kehinde Wiley Collection, USA

Cesar Gaviria Collection, Colombia Collection Lazaro, Spain

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[email protected]

30 Davies Street, London W1K 4NB+ 44 203 746 68 30 www.jdmalat.com

Special Thanks: Victoria AboucayaRafael Barros Jean-David Malat Richard Morrissey Santiago ParraAnnie Pereira

Copyright © 2020 JD Malat Gallery

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upheaval - jdmalat.com · 1 jdmalat gallery upheaval santiago parra 15th july to 15th august 2020

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