Graffiti’s Abstract Expressionist Jose Parla’s At EASE (PHOTOS)

Brooklyn-based artist, photographer, and storyteller, Jose Parlá, speaks to and through the inscription-like artworks he creates and welcomes viewers to read. Describing himself as a ‘writer using the medium of paitning’, he fuses paints, aerosols, paper, charcoal, marker, and found objects to make a physical, historical representations of what he and his environment experiences, whether it be Brooklyn or Tokyo. Parlá chronicles moments from the streets with layered calligraphy and palimpsest transcriptions on his paintings, which resemble distressed city walls.

Parla’s new show and accompanying monograph can be seen in the Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery from March 3rd to April 16th. Works that tell stories of culture, business, and other issues will be exhibited. His painting, ‘The Struggle Continues’ depicts the notion that artists must protect themselves when they enter the professional realm of art. Parlá says, ‘No art school really prepares artists for the type of language that exists the business world.’

Using Abstract Expressionism – made popular by ’70s and ’80s subway graffiti artists and artists like Pollock, Twombly-, his background in writing, hip-hop, breakdancing, and geographical awareness, and emotion as inspiration, Parlá is helping to define a modern style of Abstract Expressionism, Abstract Street Expressionism. ‘[I] love recalling the many crazy, fun, dark, wonderful, extreme, violent, happy or sad times that have passed me by. For sure when I am painting I need to exorcise some of the happenings of my life into something more than just a memory.’, he tells CoolHunting.com

Parla is someone who keeps modern art relevant, and will continue to do so in the future. Take a look at some of GlobalGrind’s favorite Jose Parlá pieces as well as the video below where Parla talks about his process.

José Parlá: Off the Wall on Nowness.com.