David Castillo Gallery presents José Lerma: Guaynabichean Odyssey

Dec 1, 2014 - Jan 31, 2015

David Castillo Gallery is proud to present a new series of eccentric paintings of José Lerma that delve into the medium’s historical role of commemorating social status, and generating myths for the wealthy and powerful. Born in Spain and raised in Puerto Rico, the artist has developed a project inspired by Spanish conquistador, Juan Ponce de León, and his search for the mythical Fountain of Youth in modern day Florida. With a dash of inspiration from his personal history, Lerma’s work often reflects on pictorial traditions such as portraiture by prodding at colonial tropes evidenced, for example, in monetary iconography. Both an exploration of the conceptual and material issues of painting, he deftly employs a variety of non-traditional materials and hybrid techniques in the works he has created for this exhibition.

José Lerma received his MFA in Painting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has held residencies at the CORE program; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine. He has exhibited his work widely both nationally and internationally at the Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, North Carolina; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Milwaukee Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece, among others. Forthcoming exhibitions include a major solo exhibition at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2015. Lerma lives and works in Chicago and is Professor of Drawing and Painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Opening reception: Monday, December 1, 6-9 PM
Public Reception Friday, December 5, 6-10 PM

Curated by Kristin Korolowicz

David Castillo Gallery
420 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
305.573.8110
www.davidcastillogallery.com

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.