»insolitusjoshua suda rodrigo cifuentes elliott wall

» joshua suda

Where reality, fantasy, and irresistible theatricality mingle, we find Joshua Suda. Born in 1978, Suda nurtured his aptitude for painting throughout his childhood, and not surprisingly decided he would pursue a career as an artist at a young age. He didn’t have to wait long for the world to notice him: at 25, Artist’s Maga-zine singled him out as a finalist in their 2003 Art Competition when he sub-mitted his painting American Idol. The magazine’s subsequent article “A Sec-ond Look” lauded the artist’s ability alter reality, “reveal(ing) something about the world that you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.” (Tom Zeit, Artist’s Magazine, March 2003)

Suda subtly seduces his audience with his play between ultra-photorealistic representation and haunting, or sometimes humorous, fiction. This play invites onlookers to participate in an intimate dialogue with his paintings, pushing us to question the boundaries between art and “real” life. Suda’s exceptional techni-cal virtuosity blends meticulously with a shot of finely tuned imagination. In this way, his paintings seem to constantly refer to, yet firmly reject, the Renaissance ideal of painting’s role as a “window” into another world. Half-hidden faces break unexpectedly into the viewer’s space, and painted models pose behind painted frames encased in yet another frame. Playful and poignant, Joshua Suda’s work uses precise technical proficiency as a vehicle to coax and twist reality into something provocatively original.

Suda has been awarded honors in Graphics at the York Art League’s fall exhibit, the Lapuka Award given at the Hazleton Art League’s spring show, the Posatko Award for Excellence in Realism, and was published in the VSA Arts calendar for 2003.

Recycling Metaphysical Debris, oil on panel, 6 x 14 inches

Disconnect, oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches

Snarl, oil on panel, 10 x 8 inches

The Landlord Part II, oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches

Amalgamation, oil on panel, 12 x 16 inches

At a Moment, oil on panel, 24 x 20 inches

Logo #3, oil on panel, 10.5 x 10.5 inches

Born in Jalisco Mexico in 1980, as a direct descendant of the immigration of Spanish dissidents during the 1930’s to Mexico, Rodrigo grew up with violent stories that shaped his pictorial temper. He studied at the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Graphics “La Esmeralda” (ENPEG) in Mexico City.

In 2001 he was selected for sponsorship at the Mexican Art Festival “Ex-presarte” 2001. His work is also part of the SHCP (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público) Museum Collection.

Today, Rodrigo Cifuentes is an emerging Mexican artist, represented ex-clusively in the United States by Skotia Gallery. There is a density in his language, which is a result of social discontent: the Latin American myth versus the American dream. We perceive in his work his feelings about Mexico’s inability for civilized life subject to the paralyzing American myth. His artistic focus revolves around the “loss of childhood, of that primary in-nocence from which only the nauseating memory of the banal symbols of popular consumption remains.”

His anguish involves us, it makes us stop to behold human misery. Is there any beauty in this? Is beauty in the object watched or is it in the eye of whoever is watching? Each spectator implies a different understanding, each spectator at different times needs different understandings, then, ev-ery understanding is a task of reconstruction of the work.

He currently lives and works in Mexico City.

rodrigo cifuentes «

Mexican Still Life, graphite and oil on panel, 8 x 6.25 inches

The Death of Muddy Mudskipper, graphite on panel, 12 x 10 inches

The Price of Technology, oil on paper on panel, 12 x 8 inches

(opposite) The Invisible Man, graphite and oil on panel, 11 x 8 inches

People are Strange, oil on canvas stretched on panel, 12 x 16 inches

Saint Monster, oil and goldleaf on panel, 11.25 x 11.25 inches

The Intruder, oil and acrylic on panel, 16 x 12 inches

introducing guest artist

elliott wall

Belle Jar, oil on panel, 81 x 33 inches

VS, oil on panel, 56 x 42 inches

Artemis, oil on panel

The Lyre Plyre 3, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches

Khloris, oil on panel, 36 x 60 inches

Twilight Cadence, oil on panel, 20 x 30 inches

150 west marcy street ste 103santa fe nm 87501

505.820.7787 | 866.820.0113skotiagallery.com

insolitisFriday December 17th

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