Look Closer, An Exhibition of Surrealist Drawing

LOOK CLOSER

An Exhibition of Surrealist Drawing

Juanita Lanzรณ Rafael Melendez Alexis Duque

Curated by

Laura James and Eileen Walsh Hell Gate Arts, Bronx

LOOK CLOSER An Exhibition of Surrealist Drawing Juanita Lanzรณ Rafael Melendez Alexis Duque March 2nd - April 13th, 2019 Opening Reception - Saturday, March 2nd | 4pm-7pm Artist Talk - Thursday, March 28th | 6pm-8pm Curated by Laura James and Eileen Walsh at Hell Gate Arts 755 East 133rd Street Bronx, New York 10454 Hours: Fri & Sat 12pm-5PM or by Appointment bxnycreative@gmail.com IG: @bxnycreative (203) 814-6856

Sponsored in part by

Image: l-r Details of Alexis Duque, 2018 Orbit, Juanita Lanzรณ, 2018 Untitled, Rafael Melendez, 2018 A Gober Dream.

Design by Danny R. Peralta | @dannykodak | www.dannyrperaltaphotography.com

BXNYCreative and Hell Gate Arts are pleased to present the work of three New York based artists who explore human nature and themes of interconnectedness through surrealist drawing. Organized by independent curators Laura James and Eileen Walsh, this exhibition features drawings, painting, and sculpture by artists Juanita Lanzรณ, Rafael Melendez and Alexis Duque.

Look Closer invites viewers into the subconscious minds of the artists to experience how they tackle questions of proximity, our impact as humans, and beauty. Upon closer thought and inspection, one will see the sinews of entanglement that worm through each piece and threaten to strangle or delight. Forms both recognizable, abstract, and anthropomorphic interweave and interact with one another in true surrealist fashion. They tell stories of colonial influence, environmental decay, corporate invasiveness, and loving human support.

BXNYCreative is the artistic support and event production partnership of Laura James and Eileen Walsh. They promote underrepresented artists, musicians, and other cultural workers, and offer expert curation, and artist development. Together they have produced a myriad of events around the city, and have strong ties to the Bronx art community.

Laura James and Eileen Walsh @bxnycreative at Bronx Now opening, June 2018.

Forced Cohabitation 2018 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper | 18 x 24 inches | $900

Juanita Lanzรณ Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Juanita Lanzรณ works with non-objective spaces and semi-recognizable forms that bring to mind appendages, cells, tissue, genitalia, and vegetation.

These elements interact, penetrate, sprout, and decay based on a combination of her own notions and a universal understanding of pain, pleasure, loss, and memories. The sensual, surreal, and corporeal quality of her imagery addresses issues of sexuality, body politics, and the organic world. They peer into the beautiful aspects of connection, as well as the overpowering and strangling factors these human interactions sometimes bring.

Photo Credit: Derrick Davis

The Conquest 2018 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper | 18 x 24 inches | $900

Untitled (Flow/Fluye) 2014 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper 71 x 42 inches | $1200

Untitled (Pink/Purple and Green/Blue) 2017-18 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper 42 x 55 inches | $1200

Untitled (Love takes off masks...) 2018 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper 18 x 24 inches | $500

Brown and Purple Cohabitation 2018 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper 18 x 24 inches | $500

Same, In Pairs 2018 | Watercolor pencil on watercolor paper | 11 x 15 inches | $600

Rafael Melendez Rafael Melendez was born and raised in California for the first 12 years of his life. Since then, he has lived and traveled throughout the United States living in big cities like Austin, Dallas, San Francisco and until recently New York City which was his home for 18 years. The series of work on display focuses on his visionary recalling of his wild experiences in these cities, where he was involved with a community of artists in spaces rife with inspiration and support during difficult times financially and artistically. Melendez remembers it as a time of great creative output, and his work comes at us with feelings of a delightful and perverse fantasy world. This series of intuitive drawings uses anthropomorphic and trans-human figures to create an imagined world that examines the feelings of frenetic joy and creativity that the artist felt at the seminal time in the early part of his career.

Night Kite Flyer, 2019 | Acrylic paint, various water based pigments and applications with collage elements on bond paper mounted on aluminum dibond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

Order of the New Moon, 2015 | Acrylic paint, various water based pigments and applications with collage elements on bond paper mounted on aluminum dibond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

Gober Dream, 2019 | Acrylic paint, various water based on bond paper mounted on aluminum dib

d pigments and applications with collage elements bond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

Midnight Rainbow , 2015 | Acrylic paint, various water based pigments and applications with collage elements on bond paper mounted on aluminum dibond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

Heaven’s Gate, 2019 | Acrylic paint, various wat on bond paper mounted on alumin

Order of the New Star, 2019 | Acrylic paint, various water based pigments and applications with collage elements on bond paper mounted on aluminum dibond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

ter based pigments and applications with collage elements num dibond board and subframe | 24 x 72 inches | $3600

Naturaila 2018 | Acrylic on canvas | 12 x 16 inches | $1400

Alexis Duque Alexis Duque’s work approaches the idea of corporate encroachment and how it forces itself into culture and space with its seductive promises of ease and pseudo-improvement to daily life.

A native of Colombia, his highly detailed drawings include a world where vegetation and indigenous life are impregnated with icons of American corporate culture.

Duque’s art is highly detailed and rich; the mastery of his craft is evident.

Figure 2018 | Acrylic on canvas | 12 x 16 inches $1400

Block 2013 | Acrylic on canvas | 5 x 7 inches $500

Biospheres 2015 | Acrylic on canvas | 12 x 12 inches | $1200

Nest 2016 |Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 inches | $1200

Star 2013 | Acrylic on canvas 6 x 6 inches | $500

Twist 2017 | Acrylic on canvas 7 x 7 inches | $600

Swirl 1 2016 | Acrylic on canvas | 4 x 6 inches $400

Dwelling 2018 | Cardboard, modeling paste, ink and acrylic paint | 20” H x 10” W x 10” D | $4000

Monolith 2015 | Polystyrene foam, resin, ink and acrylic paint 13” H x 5” W x 5” D | $1800

Tower 2017 | Cardboard, modeling paste, ink and acrylic paint | 24” H x 9” W x 9” D | $4000