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“ Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything, but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception.�
~ Stan Brakhage
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scratch-graphs, v. /skrăCH/ /’ɡrɑːf/
1. I write. 2. I record. 3. I draw roughly, sketch. 4. I scratch, carve. 5. Unique Variants; ie., 4x5 photo-negatives, 8x10 photo-negatives. 6. Graph > ORIGIN 1930s: From Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “I draw”). 7. A mark or furrow produced by the grinding contact of two substances. * An abstract data model representing relationships or connections for knowledge representation, and soul reasoning.
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The origin of my Scratch~Graph imagery was born out of sculpting time and space on a series of hand-painted films I made in the early 90s: Sporadic Germination (1994), The Revolution of Super 8 Universe: A Self-Portrait (1995), and Rumba Abstracta (1996-97). Using motion picture stocks, sometimes with photographed subjects, I used this flat dual transparent surface as my canvas in untraditional ways. Scratching and collaging the emulsion-based celluloid I produced Visual Music animations, building the kinetic image up frame by frame with acrylic paints and an experimental concoction of other liquids to give the work a history, layering it and destroying film strips of various lengths until the composition spoke to me and revealed light, my feelings and what I was thinking. After years of experimentation and thought, I began to work with the same process on photographic negatives, which you’ll see in this catalogue. In starting to create an abstract picture, I have no compositional goals. My initial drive is chance, which strengthens a random attitude formed by a process of constant unpredictable desires in an ocean of emotional urgency and to let the image or patterns come to me. The goal is to create something meaningful in the studio in the hope that it inspires others, and also becomes useful to them, and myself. My work with abstract photography follows in the tradition of avant-garde artists and filmmakers like Maya Deren, Tony Conrad, Stan Brakhage, László Moholy-Nagy, and many others who often time radically contradicted the view of photography as only a product of cameras.
“When there is love, there is always an endless conversation, a consciousness that is ever evolving, and it’s accompanied by a universal growth.”
Rey Parlá, Brooklyn, New York. 2015 ~
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Deconstruction via Re-Appropriative Osmosis, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 9
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Shaping Lines into Light, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 11
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Ultra-Scratchitti, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 13
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Nostalgic Semi-Identity, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 15
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The Powers of the Void, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 17
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De La Nada Surge La Nada, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 19
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Wordless, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 21
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A Sense of Being, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 23
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The Life of the Eye, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 25
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Infinity Passes through Them, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 27
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S.E.P.I.A. [ S = Scratched. E = Etched. P = Post-post modernist. I = Intelligent. A = Architecture ] 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 29
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Merging Multiples, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 33
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The Delights of Seeing with Eyes Wide Open, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 35
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Innocence Captured, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 37
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Multiplicity, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 39
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Positive Negatives, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 41
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Inevitable Frame, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 43
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All the Forces of Nature are Interlinked, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 45
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Integral Constructions, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 47
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The Great Dynamic, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 49
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Dual Soliloquies, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 51
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Dodge & Burn, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 53
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Pushing and Pulling Time, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 55
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Lines Playing by Intuition, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 57
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Gray vs. Grey, 2015 51" H X 41" W X 2" DIN [ 129.54 H x 104.14 W x 5.08 D CM ] UNIQUE C-PRINT SCRATCH ~ GRAPHS 59
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Rey Parlá is a Cuban American visual artist working in photography, painting and filmmaking. Parlá first received recognition for his “motion-paintings” at the 12th Annual Miami International Film Festival: The Avant-Garde Returns, presented by Harvard Film Archive Curator, Bruce Posner. Parlá’s time based media works are short Super 8 film documentaries he then hand-painted, edited, and collaged after shooting his brother José Parlá and friends during their creation of many mural projects in Miami. Early exposure to Hip Hop culture and its environment drew him to photography and filmmaking. Parlá has received Honorable and Special Event Presentations for his films:
Rumba Abstracta, Sporadic Germination, and The Revolution of Super 8 Universe: A Self-Portrait at several film festivals such as: The Anti Film Festival, The Alliance Cinema, Milan International Film Festival, Flower Film Festival, The Central Florida Film & Video Festival, The Independent Feature Project, El Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte Roma (MUCA Roma), The Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives, and The Cuban Alternative Film Festival in Little Habana. From 2007 to 2010, Rey co-produced and was co-director for the travelogue;
The New Grand Tour, a project exhibited in Hong Kong (2007), Beijing (2008), and at Bryce Wolkowitz’s Gallery in New York City (2010), which produced two exhibition monographs where Rey presented his poetry, photography, and manifesto in collaboration with artists: Suitman (aka Young Kim), José Parlá, Rostarr, Deanne Cheuk, and Davi Russo.
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Early in 2011 curator Helen Homan Wu of Opalnest Independent Projects presented SONIC ARCHITEXTURES, an experiential art event with a new film by Rey, entitled: Emulsions, Glitches, and Scratches in a live sound and image performance with MERCE (Maria Chavez and Shelley Burgon). In May of 2012, Rey travelled to Habana, Cuba with French artist JR and his brother José Parlá for their collaboration during the 11th Havana Biennial with
The Wrinkles of the City: Habana, Cuba project as director of photography for their documentary and book with Damiani and Standard Press covering the mixed media murals they completed during a one month stay. Parlá has collaborated with performance artist Natasha Tsakos in Miami Beach, Vanessa Gocksch of Intermundos, and Ralph Falcón of Murk Records. Critical theorist, filmmaker, and collaborator; Michael Betancourt, has written specially about Rey’s film work. Parlá has also lectured at Savannah College of Art & Design on experimental time based media and photography. Parlá’s work is in various international private collections and the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Collection.
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Rey ParlĂĄ Born in Miami, 1971 Education 1992-93 Valencia Community College Film Technology Program, Orlando - FL. 1993-97 Alliance Film & Video Cooperative, Miami Beach, FL. 1994-96 Miami Dade Community College 2004-07 BA in English Literature, Florida International University, Miami. 2004-07 Certificate in Film Studies, Florida International University, Miami.
www.reyparla.com ~ Š 2015 PARLA STUDIOS, LLC. Member of the Artists Rights Society New York and the Design and Artists Copyright Society in the U.K.
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