Charlie Immer & Haitian Vodou

April 4 – 27, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4th, 8-11 PM

Charlie Immer
“Loose Juice”

April 4 – 27, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4th, 8-11 PM

Inspired heavily by horror films, cartoons, nature, candy, and video games, Charlie Immer‘s striking, surreal work is both humorous and unsettling. “Loose Juice” is Immer’s first solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery and features paintings focused on Endurance.

“With this body of work I introduced new flavors, structures, and textures to the undulating and quivering landscape. The structure of the pieces was heavily inspired by the isometric perspective seen in many video-games of the 90’s. I’ve reintroduced buckets of “juice” which have been mostly absent from my recent work. Liquid is so alluring and dynamic. The subjects of the work are jiggling jesters and dripping skeletons enduring pain free violent acts. The nervous system has evaporated in this world and blood is in infinite supply. I’ve always found over the top violence to be appealing when stripped of pain and possibility of death.” – Charlie Immer

Charlie Immer received his BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. His works have been shown in galleries world wide and he has been featured in numerous magazines such as Blisss!, Juxtapoz, and HiFructose. Immer recently collaborated with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips on an album cover. He was raised in Western Maryland, where he currently lives with his collection of skeletons, candy and a cat named Radicchio.

Haitian Vodou

April 4 – 27, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4th, 8-11 PM

As Vodou flags traveled out of temples and into the hands of foreign buyers, curiosity about their purpose grew. Some artists imbue their flags with quasi-Christian imagery such as angels, hearts, and saints, while other flag makers are actual houngans (or Vodou priests) who select visual representations based on particular, ritual use.

Whether one attributes significant religious power to these extraordinary relics or appreciates them strictly for their colorful aesthetic, the broad range of pictorial elements makes them a welcome anomaly among modern folk art collections. While the number of artisans specializing in the art form has swelled in recent years, natural disasters and tropical storms have ravaged Haiti and taken the lives of some of the most gifted artists of the medium.

This Easter exhibition of museum pieces from Billy Shire’s personal collection hails back to the last, great, golden age of Haitian Vodou Flags: the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Haitian Vodou features 13 pieces by Antoine Oleyant (1955-1992), the first Haitian to liberate Vodou Flags from strictly religious utilitarianism into a medium of artistic expression. Also on display are four ritualized pieces by the legendary Vodou priest, Clotaire Bazile (1946-2012), one unknown (but also ritualized) piece from the 1970s, and a stunning recent example from female artist, Myrlande Constant (b. 1968), who was recently featured in an exhibition at Brown University.

While themes often reoccur, each flag is unique.

Concepción Aguilar Alcántara

April 4 – 27, 2014
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4th, 8-11 PM

Also on exhibition will be a selection of handcrafted Oaxacan memorial sculptures from Concepción Aguilar Alcántara, of the world-renown Aguilar Family of Ocotlán de Morelos. Their important and delightful genre of decorative and colorful ceramics departs from the utilitarian objects of their contemporaries in introducing human figures and capturing the passionate expressiveness and cultural richness of pueblo life.

Women in indigenous garb were portrayed in every aspect of life: transporting their wares and possessions, displaying and selling their produce in the market, nursing their babies, arranging their flowers, attending funerals and weddings, praying, sitting on park benches with their “enamorados” (romantic loved ones), and celebrating fiestas. Concepcion is particularly known for her “Fridas” (figures based on Frida Kahlo). She takes pride in the great detail of her figures: brilliantly painted butterflies and delicately textured rocks, suspended from vibrant cactus.

 

Contact Gallery Director Matthew Gardocki for purchase info:
info@laluzdejesus.com  (323)666-7667