José Luis Vargas solo exhibition at Bill Brady Gallery

PRAN / The gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings by Puerto Rican artist José Luis Vargas. 

After hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the storm gave way for Vargas to take a sharper look at the mythical gaze, and he found himself giving images in his paintings an internal drama of revelation and humanity of their own. Having been a characteristic of what he does and the way he thinks, elements like fantasy, religion, science fiction and the supernatural are faithful companions in his narratives. In Myth-making, the need for a narrative is a natural gesture as images organize themselves into mythical and power structures. Whether they are absurd, humorous, dramatic, tragic or, mysterious, it results in a tendency that feels very much at ease finding an appropriate context to unfold these emotions. 

The faces and figures in the work become surrogates of very deep thoughts related to a sharper gaze. The duality in the works were created by many years working with people from different backgrounds, and his studio practice interestingly submerged the people that inhabit the paintings. People on the edge of the sublime and the mythical without forgetting their human nature.

Jose Luis Vargas was born in 1965 and is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London; Pratt Institute New York, and The Skowhegan School of Painting and sculpture in Maine. Past exhibitions include Roberto Paradise, PR; Museo de Arte, Caguas, PR; Tripoli Gallery, NY, Rachel Uffner Gallery, NY, and Embajada, PR. He lives and works in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The exhibition José Luis Vargas | Myth-Making, will be on view through March 28, 2020 at Bill Brady Gallery, 90 NW 72nd Street Miami, FL 33150, Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm

For more information: https://www.billbradygallery.com/