'Canvas Wi Narrative' Expanding from Individual to Society

Gana Art Center 'Jose Pala' Solo Exhibition
New Series Paintings Breathing Revealed

Spirited Grounds, 2022. Photo by Gana Art Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] “I was there”

Contemporary artist Jose Parla is known for his unique brushstrokes that reflect urban life and the lives of the people living there. He began his journey as an artist through street art and continues his path using city walls as his canvas.

Gana Art is hosting Jose Parla’s solo exhibition “Breathing” until December 4. Showcasing a diverse artistic world ranging from original abstract paintings to large murals, photography, video, and sculpture, he announces his return with the new series of paintings titled “Breathing,” which shares the exhibition’s theme. After spending several months in the hospital in 2021 battling COVID-19 and facing a doctor’s prognosis that he might no longer be able to paint, the artist defied the odds by rising again and expressing a stronger will to live through his work, realized with deeper colors and lines.

Jose Parla’s works evoke city walls layered with posters that have been repeatedly added and torn, leaving only faint traces, along with graffiti and scribbles by others. When visiting a new city, he wanders the streets taking photographs, drawing new inspiration from them. Sometimes, he collects advertising flyers stuck on walls and uses them as collages in his work, visually recreating the urban landscape of each city. His abstract canvases, layered like geological strata built up by the history and time of each region, resemble new urban landscapes.

The Message, 2022 Photo courtesy of Ghana Art Center

The artist captures the flow of time and collective memory by embedding various languages and symbols found in street art into his work, reflecting and accumulating contemporary history transparently through city walls. Especially notable in this exhibition are his sculptures, shown for the first time in Korea, which resemble city walls transplanted intact, evoking the streets of Miami where he began his artistic journey. At the same time, they serve as a chronological guide to the path the artist has taken to reach his current work.

The large sculpture installed at the outdoor performance hall of Gana Art Center is part of a public project previously installed on the High Line in New York. Its massive scale, like a giant wall, overwhelms viewers. Through “La Habana, Republica de Cuba” (2015), the artist brings the streets of Cuba, his roots and eternal hometown, into the heart of New York where he currently works, intersecting past and present. Through this exhibition, the message the artist conveyed from the center of New York will be transferred to Seoul, Korea, adding new historical significance as layers accumulate like sedimentary strata.

What Do We See When We Close Our Eyes. Photo by Gana Art Center

The artist, a second-generation Cuban immigrant born in Miami, USA, confesses to having experienced identity confusion common among many immigrants. He found a breakthrough through solidarity with communities involved in subcultures such as hip-hop dance and underground music, which were popular at the time. Starting at age 10 under the name “Ease,” he began painting on the streets of Miami. As a dancer and street artist, he naturally embodied spontaneous physical acts such as freely scribbling lines or dripping and splattering paint into his work.

Jose Parla defines his role as recording the stories of the city and passing them on to the future. Through his work, he captures the current era like a time capsule. He explains, “The walls around us symbolize time. To me, the canvas is an abstract interpretation of a wall. I think of my work as having its own history and revealing the stage of life.” Based on this belief, he engraves the stories of our lives today into his art. The exhibition runs until December 4 at Gana Art Center, Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.