Opening Reception Saturday March 21 2020 • 7-10 PM
For Immediate Release February, 2020
Untitled by Isaac Pelayo
THE AMERICAN DREAM
ANTONIO PELAYO • ISAAC PELAYO
The American Dream has become the ethos of the United States. For the Latinx community it means hope, a vision, an opportunity, and a faraway reality desired by numerous individuals south of the Mexico/U.S. border. Confident in a better future, certain of the prospect of upward mobility, and yearning for sustainability, countless Latinx determined to create a better life for their children migrate north every day. South of the border, dreamlike accounts are told of a fascinating land just north of the boundary that divides Latin America from their northern neighbors, where prosperity awaits for those brave enough to seek it, and courageous enough to make it theirs. Thus in hopes of a broken reality, millions of individuals every day continue to leave their home behind. A nostalgic depiction of a post memory imaginary lies at the core of Latinx labor. The Latinx community thrives in spite of lacking basic access to the “pursuit of happiness,” as self-determination sustains millions of dreams in a land where “all men are created equal” (Declaration of Independence). Antonio Pelayo and Isaac Pelayo collide various depictions of the experiences of the members of their own people: utilizing their artwork as a platform to visually convey the realities of Latinx community. Within the body of work featured in “The American Dream” street vendors and children are juxtaposed confronting memories past and realities present. These portraits serve as a glimpse into the actuality of The American Dream. Father and son thus utilize their aesthetic agency to give voice to the voiceless. Curatorial statement by Erika Hirugami, MAAB.
ARTISTS Antonio Pelayo uses his artwork to question ideologies of home, identity, and trust. Moving from a quintessential American suburb replete with white picket fences to a tiny village of adobe churches urged Pelayo to adapt, while he aesthetically searches for himself. Los Angeles-based artist, illustrator and event producer focusing on the Latinx community of Southern California. Father to Isaac Pelayo. He is currently working as “inker” at the Disney Studio’s Ink & Paint Department and has been the subject of many news stories and features, including ABC13, ABC7, Made in Hollywood Teen, Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Telemundo, Univision, and La Opinion. As an artist, he is best known for his hyperrealistic graphite illustrations and detailed portraits featuring subjects including his family, celebrities, los luchadores, and Dia de Los Muertos. Pelayo’s CV includes exhibitions in California and Mexico.
GALLERY Bruce Lurie Gallery was established in the early 1980’s in New York’s East Village. Bruce Lurie has an history of launching emerging artists into the main-stream art scene, and in his early career gave Jean-Michel Basquiat his first show as requested by Leo Castelli. The gallery has since relocated to Los Angeles’ Culver City Arts District. The gallery has a particular focus on establishing emerging to mid-career artists specializing in cutting edge street art, abstract minimalism, and pop art, with an additional recent focus on photography. The Bruce Lurie Gallery features a wide range of monumental sculptors as well.
Isaac Pelayo is a self-taught artist who had his first art exhibition at the age of eleven. He has exhibited around the globe in such museums as the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA. and The Trotsky Museum in Mexico City, as well as galleries like Gabba Gallery, Plaza De La Raza, Known Gallery, The Seventh Letter Gallery, and many more. His hyper-realistic aesthetic expressions are a mixture of classical painting, enlightenment, and pop culture. Pelayo finds inspiration in artists like Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Velasquez, and Dali, as well as The Renaissance, Baroque period, Chicano Contemporary Culture, and Street Art Movement. Constantly challenging himself to further delve into explorations made visible in his work, which is a reflection of the desire to understand himself and those around him. Pelayo’s body of work includes photo-realistic drawings and paintings in on an array of media. His subject matter collides classical renaissance with splashes of the 21st-century essence. Exhibition on view•Mar 21 Reception • Saturday Mar 21, 2020 • 7-10PM Bruce Lurie Gallery 2736 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034 info.luriegallery@gmail.com • Gallery Hours Tue-Sat 12-6pm Part of proceeds will benefit Adopt The Arts • Adoptthearts.org Press Contact •Private Reception Contact @bruceluriegallery info.luriegallery@gmail.com •310.876.1780
El Hombre (detail) by Antonio Pelayo