New EL MAC prints: 'Gravity and Grace'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New print release this Monday, December 9th. Purchase at http://elmac.art

Sale opens Friday @10am PST
Print details:
"Gravity and Grace"
Signed, titled, and numbered by the artist.
Hand-pulled screenprints made with Tony Clough at Serio Press in
Pasadena, California. 

Serigraphs printed using 11 colors, with additional coats of clear over some layers for added texture.
Printed on acid-free, 100% cotton, 320 gsm, USA-made Coventry paper.
33in x 34.5in paper size
(28.75in x 30in printed area)

There are four main color editions of this print (plus three extra super limited variants):

"Gravity and Grace":
edition of 57
gray
$575

"Gravity and Grace II":
edition of 25
blue
$650

"Gravity and Grace III":
edition of 19
red
$725

"Gravity and Grace IV":
edition of 13
teal
$775

Artist's statement about the work:

 

"These prints were adapted from my most recent painting, 'Gravity and Grace'. The face is reminiscent of one I painted on a hectic street corner bordering Little Armenia and Thai Town in Los Angeles in 2010. After 15 years the original portrait is still there but in a diminished state and missing any of the original halo ornamentation by Retna. The old plaster beneath the mural has been deteriorating over the years and won't last forever so I decided to revisit my old reference photographs that inspired that mural and painted this new image with acrylics. The background floral designs were adapted from a small detail of one of my mother's paintings titled 'Lake Tiberias'. The poinciana flowers and leaves were fairly stylized in my mother's painting, and I then abstracted them even further. As I continue to process my mom's passing, this incorporation of just a tiny bit of her own art carries forth some of her spirit. The title of these prints comes from the writings of radically empathetic French philosopher Simone Weil in the 1940s: 'All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws analogous to those of physical gravity. Grace is the only exception. We must always expect things to happen in conformity with the laws of gravity unless there is supernatural intervention.'

There's some overlap between Weil's outlook and my mother's, with a similar balance of realism, mysticism and devotion to God and beauty. Weil and my mother both strongly believed that beauty can be an expression of goodness: 'The subject of art is sensible and contingent beauty discerned through the network of chance and evil. The beautiful in nature is a union of the sensible impression and of the sense of necessity. Things must be like that (in the first place), and, precisely, they are like that. Beauty captivates the flesh in order to obtain permission to pass right to the soul.... In everything which gives us the pure authentic feeling of beauty there really is the presence of God. There is as it were an incarnation of God in the world and it is indicated by beauty. The beautiful is the experimental proof that the incarnation is possible. Hence all art of the highest order is religious in essence.'

In these times of distress, war, and confusion, then surely beauty, love, and grace are needed more than ever. In my own small way, through art and with seriousness and sincerity, I've tried to do my part."

New EL MAC mural with Augustine Kofie + Aise Born in Los Angeles: "Monument of Love: Mother and Child"

“Monument of Love: Mother and Child”

Mural on the Good Shepherd Manor for Destination Crenshaw, Los Angeles, 2024

 

This is my largest mural in Los Angeles, titled “Monument of Love: Mother and Child”, painted with Augustine Kofie and AiseBorn of the United To Inspire collective, commissioned by Destination Crenshaw. The three of us each have a young son, and fatherhood has reinforced our appreciation for the importance of parenthood, and especially the deep significance of a mother to a child. Since I was little my own beloved mother, who passed away nearly two years ago, was a source of strength and protection for me. She was the greatest artist I've ever known, and I am the artist and person I am because she loved me. She helped instill a love of art and beauty, as well as a strong moral sense of the value of artistic creation—to see the creation of, and connection with, art as potentially a form of celebration, prayer, and service. It's hard for me to convey in words the gratitude and love I carry for my mother, and the respect I have for caring mothers everywhere, and so the best way I know to show that love is with my art. This was an epic opportunity to express these feelings and share this devotional image of love and beauty with others.

 Six years ago, when I first heard of the possibility to contribute something for Destination Crenshaw, I immediately thought of drawing inspiration from, and paying respects to, the great Charles White. Some of White’s images depicting mothers with children served as the foundation for the composition of this mural, including his drawing from 1953 titled ‘Mother and Child’. I've been inspired by White’s work, and feel a shared sense of his artistic vision and philosophy: I am concerned about my fellow man. I am concerned with the survival of man. I am concerned with the progress that man has made in relation to his fellow man, in relation to nature, in trying to find a more beautiful way of life....I am trying to fulfill my responsibility to myself and to express my gratitude for the privilege that I’ve had of living..."

I envisioned this mural to be an expression of gratitude conveying strength, pride, and resilience, and as a monument to mothers, caregivers, children, and above all to love.

Many thanks to Kofie and Aise for their beautiful work + friendship. Thanks to the entire Destination Crenshaw team for making this all possible, with special gratitude to Joy Simmons, Ron Finley, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Thanks to mi amor Kimberly for the patience + project management. Thanks to Tahoe and the exceptional models for this mural, Lliam + Shontel. Thanks to the fine folks at the Good Shepherd Manor, and to everyone who supported or showed love in any way. Thanks to David Joseph Pérez, Eric Heights, and Zane Meyer of Chop 'Em Down for the documentation.

New EL MAC prints: 'Mystical Rose'

New print release this Friday, August 18th. Purchase at http://elmac.art

Sale opens Friday @10am PST
Print details:
"Mystical Rose"
Signed, titled, and numbered by the artist.
Hand-pulled screenprints made with Andres Zavala in Boyle Heights, California. Serigraphs printed using seven colors, with a few thin layers of clear ink over some of the linework.

Editions I, II, and V printed on archival + acid-free, 100% cotton, 300 gsm, Saunders Waterford paper made by St. Cuthbert's Mill in England.

Editions III + IV printed on colored, archival + acid-free, 100% cotton, 300 gsm, Pescia paper made by Magnani in Italy
21in x 27in paper size
(18.5in x 23.5in printed area)

There are five completely different color editions of this print:

"Mystical Rose":
edition of 40
reds and blues
$475

"Mystical Rose II":
edition of 34
oranges and greens
$525

"Mystical Rose III":
edition of 25
grays on cream paper
$575

"Mystical Rose IV":
edition of 25
blues on light blue paper
$575

"Mystical Rose V":
edition of 17
gold (oranges and yellows)
$650

Artist's statement about the work:

The rose, symbolic of love and beauty, as well as the transience of life and the material world, has long been considered the 'queen of flowers'. 'Mystical Rose' is also a poetic title for the Blessed Mother. Painting this image earlier this year was an expression of love and gratitude, and a way of processing the passing of my own beloved mother, who helped shape my approach to life, love and beauty.

In a 1964 interview the legendary jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams said "I am praying through my fingers when I play…I get that good 'soul sound', and I try to touch people's spirits." 

I was instilled with a similar understanding, because art-making can sometimes be a form of prayer—a meditative, devotional practice of creation and connection, where if the work is soulful at all it might touch some spirits. I hope that this simple image might also touch some spirits.

New EL MAC prints: 'El Obrero'

New print release this Saturday, February 25th. Purchase at http://elmac.art

Sale opens Saturday @10am PST
Print details:
"El Obrero"
Signed, titled, and numbered by the artist.
Hand-pulled screenprints made with Tony Clough at Serio Press in
Pasadena, California. Serigraphs printed using 11 colors.
Printed on acid-free, 100% cotton, 330 gsm, Italian-made Revere paper.
33in x 26in paper size
(30in x 22.5in printed area)

There are three different color editions of this print:

"El Obrero":
edition of 62
warm colors over black base
$500

"El Obrero II":
edition of 26
warm colors over dark blue base
$600

"El Obrero III":
edition of 6
warm colors over light blue base
$750

Artist's statement about the work:

These prints are adapted from an acrylic painting that I worked on over the last two years. The image was inspired by a protestor I saw at an immigrant and worker rights march many years ago. It follows a long tradition of Via Crucis/Path of Sorrows imagery in devotional western art, but I also saw it as a meditation on labor and mutuality.
I was raised with a sort of philosophy of work, where art making and creative labor can be a kind of prayer, where there can be beauty in striving to become better at whatever we do and in the giving of oneself in service to others. Love, beauty, and work—all can be connected.
We are, nearly all of us, workers in some form or another, but that commonality gets overshadowed so often by cultural, racial, or various identity issues. Despite all our increasing digital connectedness we seem to be further separated and isolated in many ways. When we look at the world today and see that despite all the advancements much of our global family still suffers to some degree or another from poverty, exploitation, marginalization. Power and wealth continue to concentrate among a tiny few, while working people as a group steadily fall further into precarity. This is a trend that does not help build a world where it is easier for people to live or to love each other.
Just before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated he was helping striking sanitation workers, and in his last speeches he spoke of the dignity of labor and the importance of solidarity with other working people, of a kind of "dangerous unselfishness" described in the parable of the Good Samaritan. And what is dangerous unselfishness if not self-sacrificing love?
"To work to increase our love for God and for our fellow man (and the two must go hand in hand), this is a lifetime job. We are never going to be finished. Love and ever more love is the only solution to every problem that comes up. If we love each other enough, we will bear each other's faults and burdens. If we love enough, we are going to light that fire in the hearts of others.”
-Dorothy Day