Cuadro rojo
Oil on canvas
58" x 88"
2008 ^
Military Virgin
molded plaster
(From The Virgin Series)
34" X 9"
2005
Artist Statement
The Virgin of Guadalupe is traditionally a symbol of faith, spirituality -
something larger than us.
Much of the importance of the Virgin of Guadalupe relies on her image
rather than a essence.
Through the years the Virgin of Guadalupe has been a commercial success.
Her image can be found on anything - car deodorants, key chains, blankets
and even boxer shorts, just to name a few.
Her meaning has changed individually to fit a variety of personalities and
backgrounds.
Modification of the image reflects contemporary issues rather then
religious beliefs.
The idea of giving different personas to the same virgin came from another
form of over-commercialized female iconography- the Barbie doll.
CARLOS GUTIERREZ
ARTIST STATEMENT
(Recent paintings)
I started doing abstract paintings because I had never done an abstract painting.
I like lines and straight edges. It’s a reflection of how I like to live. Everything in order, everything straight, although sometimes I allow myself to be a bit disorganized, but not very often.
As part of my work I take photos of paint "patches" on walls. These patches are made by the people painting over and covering graffiti. Most of the time the paint applied to cover the graffiti does not match the original color of the wall and it is these (mostly rectangular) patches of different colors - sometimes a few patches on the same area - that I find interesting and draw inspiration from.
These patches of paint do not erase the graffiti but hide it under the paint. So the markings, names, and slogans are still there sandwiched between the original paint and paint patch. These patches have come to be part of our urban surroundings as they are replacing graffiti.
It's if like graffiti was somekind of a wound and these patches hide and or "heal" that wound. Its "OK" to see these patches everywhere as long as we don't see the graffiti which is something that most people associate with gangs, drugs and the corruption of a society. (Reminds me of persons with tattoos that are hired in a job as long as they hide their tattoos because it's not "right" for customers to see them).
There is a beauty to the simplicity of these patches. Just a simple shape on the middle of a wall which its sole purpose is to hide what is not "right". I do not try to copy these patches but get inspired by their simplicity and beauty.
I combine these patches with things I see from the windows of my studio like; vapor lines left in the sky by passing planes, fading lines on streets, lines and details in architecture and also things I see when I am walking like grids, and different shapes on sidewalks.
I use colors to “give” the painting a mood. They are taken from things or places I see in the street as I am walking or driving. They could come from a wall in an alley, the paint “patches” that cover graffiti, a persons clothing, just about anything that attracts my eye. Sometimes I find them and sometimes they come to me. One day I’ll be thinking of what shade of a certain color I need to add to a painting, and while I am thinking I sit by the window and sometimes in minutes somebody walks by the window carrying a bag or wearing a piece of clothing of the perfect shade of that color I was looking for. Dark backgrounds on some paintings where inspired by backgrounds in Italian Baroque paintings.
These paintings are very personal. They are a conversation with myself. I can spend hours in front of a painting thinking of what the painting needs next to “feel right” and in the end of several hours I only do a small thin line or a mark on a corner that changes the painting completely.
(Photographs)
I am mostly a street photographer and I am inspired by the energy flowing in the busy downtown streets - and sometimes by empty, lonely streets late in the afternoon. I like clean "perfect" photographs but also unfocused, moved, grainy and that darker photograph that creates a certain dream like mood. ( I have focused three years to just painting so I could do a show (Nov 6, 2008) but now will concentrate a bit more of my energy into photography.
(Conceptual Art)
Mostly inspired by the beauty in the materials we do not put much attention to because a label has been placed on them that keeps us from seeing beyond that label.
For example fiberglass insulation. We have always been told to keep away and not to touch insulation. So we see insulation as something to keep away from. Most of the time when we see insulation it's in a construction site, the attic or in big rolls stacked at a home improvement warehouse. We see insulation as what it is labeled "insulation" but we never see the texture, different shades of pink that exist in the same roll, how some fibers reflect the light and some don't and even the feel. Insulation - especialy the pink one - is too beautiful to not seen but as the label that was placed on it "insulation".
I find beauty in these objects because I forget about the label and see them for what they are, a beautiful and interesting material that deserves more than to be hidding in between walls or inside an air conditioner or heater.
By placing these objects in a different environment and hanging them in a wall - where it was never meant to be - I invite the viewer to see these objects in very different way and see the beauty that "hides" within.
ARTIST STATEMENT
(Recent paintings)
I started doing abstract paintings because I had never done an abstract painting.
I like lines and straight edges. It’s a reflection of how I like to live. Everything in order, everything straight, although sometimes I allow myself to be a bit disorganized, but not very often.
As part of my work I take photos of paint "patches" on walls. These patches are made by the people painting over and covering graffiti. Most of the time the paint applied to cover the graffiti does not match the original color of the wall and it is these (mostly rectangular) patches of different colors - sometimes a few patches on the same area - that I find interesting and draw inspiration from.
These patches of paint do not erase the graffiti but hide it under the paint. So the markings, names, and slogans are still there sandwiched between the original paint and paint patch. These patches have come to be part of our urban surroundings as they are replacing graffiti.
It's if like graffiti was somekind of a wound and these patches hide and or "heal" that wound. Its "OK" to see these patches everywhere as long as we don't see the graffiti which is something that most people associate with gangs, drugs and the corruption of a society. (Reminds me of persons with tattoos that are hired in a job as long as they hide their tattoos because it's not "right" for customers to see them).
There is a beauty to the simplicity of these patches. Just a simple shape on the middle of a wall which its sole purpose is to hide what is not "right". I do not try to copy these patches but get inspired by their simplicity and beauty.
I combine these patches with things I see from the windows of my studio like; vapor lines left in the sky by passing planes, fading lines on streets, lines and details in architecture and also things I see when I am walking like grids, and different shapes on sidewalks.
I use colors to “give” the painting a mood. They are taken from things or places I see in the street as I am walking or driving. They could come from a wall in an alley, the paint “patches” that cover graffiti, a persons clothing, just about anything that attracts my eye. Sometimes I find them and sometimes they come to me. One day I’ll be thinking of what shade of a certain color I need to add to a painting, and while I am thinking I sit by the window and sometimes in minutes somebody walks by the window carrying a bag or wearing a piece of clothing of the perfect shade of that color I was looking for. Dark backgrounds on some paintings where inspired by backgrounds in Italian Baroque paintings.
These paintings are very personal. They are a conversation with myself. I can spend hours in front of a painting thinking of what the painting needs next to “feel right” and in the end of several hours I only do a small thin line or a mark on a corner that changes the painting completely.
(Photographs)
I am mostly a street photographer and I am inspired by the energy flowing in the busy downtown streets - and sometimes by empty, lonely streets late in the afternoon. I like clean "perfect" photographs but also unfocused, moved, grainy and that darker photograph that creates a certain dream like mood. ( I have focused three years to just painting so I could do a show (Nov 6, 2008) but now will concentrate a bit more of my energy into photography.
(Conceptual Art)
Mostly inspired by the beauty in the materials we do not put much attention to because a label has been placed on them that keeps us from seeing beyond that label.
For example fiberglass insulation. We have always been told to keep away and not to touch insulation. So we see insulation as something to keep away from. Most of the time when we see insulation it's in a construction site, the attic or in big rolls stacked at a home improvement warehouse. We see insulation as what it is labeled "insulation" but we never see the texture, different shades of pink that exist in the same roll, how some fibers reflect the light and some don't and even the feel. Insulation - especialy the pink one - is too beautiful to not seen but as the label that was placed on it "insulation".
I find beauty in these objects because I forget about the label and see them for what they are, a beautiful and interesting material that deserves more than to be hidding in between walls or inside an air conditioner or heater.
By placing these objects in a different environment and hanging them in a wall - where it was never meant to be - I invite the viewer to see these objects in very different way and see the beauty that "hides" within.
Ice On Bridge
Ice On Bridge
2000
I placed blocks of ice on top of a bridge
where a sign that said "Watch For Ice On Bridge"
stood at the foot of the bridge.
Hot Silo
concrete silo, acrylic house paint, gas heaters, red lamps, fabric.
approx. 16' x 75'
2005
15 Artist where assigned a silo each to do as they pleased.
Temperature was an important factor in my decision to do Hot Silo.
Thick cement walls , a constant breeze, and the absence of sun made
the temperature inside the silos at least fourteen degrees lower than
the temperature outside. The opening was going to be in the evening
in the middle of winter and I knew it was going to get very cold inside
the silos-specially at night.
Hot Silo was a hot spot in the middle of a very cold atmosphere.
Painting the gray cement walls and floor red has a psychological
effect causing the silo to feel warmer. Thick curtains at the
entrance not only kept in some of the heat generated by two
industrial gas heaters, but also made the spectator sense a quick
difference in temperature as they walked in from the cold.
White and Red line
80 automobiles
University Of Texas At El Paso, Fox Fine Arts parking lot.
The idea was to make a piece with things I had around and also spend
the least money possible. I spent 12 dollars on donuts and orange juice
for friends that helped me handleing the cars and any student that participated
in forming the lines .
I did this in the morning when people where arriving to class so all they
wanted to do is just park and run. It took about 15 -20 min to form these lines
and everything went very well but took me half a semester to plan it out so it would
come out like this.
1999
University Of Texas At El Paso, Fox Fine Arts parking lot.
The idea was to make a piece with things I had around and also spend
the least money possible. I spent 12 dollars on donuts and orange juice
for friends that helped me handleing the cars and any student that participated
in forming the lines .
I did this in the morning when people where arriving to class so all they
wanted to do is just park and run. It took about 15 -20 min to form these lines
and everything went very well but took me half a semester to plan it out so it would
come out like this.
1999
Nine Hours Of Silence
Performance.
2000
To celebrate the new year when I was in the
Border Arts Residency in La Union, NM.,
I covered myself with aluminium foil and sat
motionless for 9 hours straight in a
tractor which I had previously
covered with foil.
See you later alligator
metal electrical outlet boxes
64" x 14"
1999
One day as I was waiting for the traffic lights to change
I was starring at a billboard on the side of the street
and an idea came to me for a conceptual piece.
A billboard saying something, but instead of
letters it would be written in braille. Nobody
would be able to read it but it would be saying something anyway.
The Braille could have color to make it stand out against
a white background or it could be white and could be seen
by the changing shadows being casted on to the flat surface
of the billboard althrough the day.
So I made this piece with the electrical outlet boxes
based on that idea. When I get funding I'll do the billboard.
Green line
3 houses, acrylic paint
approx 70' x 9'
1999
I convinced a few people on the Mexican side of the border to
let me paint their houses lime green. The idea was to form a
"straight" line that could be seen from the United States.
(The road in front of the houses is the freeway on the U.S. side ).
From where I took the photo it looks like the houses are in a line
side by side but in reality they are in different streets a block away
From where I took the photo it looks like the houses are in a line
side by side but in reality they are in different streets a block away
from each other.
Flor Roja
Oil on canvas
69" x 96"
2005
Collection of New Mexico State University Art Gallery
The Flower Paintings
These paintings started with my mom telling me to paint her
something "nice" for her living room.
As a male artist living in this times painting flowers is a taboo subject-
especially if they are going to be hung on your mothers living room.
It was going to be her birthday in a few weeks. My mother, as are
most mothers, can be persuasive. Against my instinct, I decided to
paint some flowers for her I set out to make them visually interesting.
In the process I discovered that flowers could be just as interesting as
other subjects I was painting.
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