There is movement in the stillness, as we have all learned over the past few years. There is also profundity in the everyday, the objects we surround ourselves with, and in some cases, the actions we have taken over the past years now of eliminating the things we do not want. Manuel López' Still Life Goes On at Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles has life in the quiet, movement in the stillness, immediate and universal. Memory and fantasy, all in one place. —Juxtapoz
"For this work/exhibition, I’ve relied on my interest in drawing and in the objects that orbit me on a daily basis, objects that exist within my own personal space but that also inhabit a broader and shared cultural world, objects that I always gravitated towards but often ignored because of their mundanity. The drawings came first, as I have been trained in the traditional way of making 2-D art, through direct observation. The work expresses certain interests that have been ingrained in me since I was a child: a love of books, plants, colors, and toys, which in turn inform my present thoughts. The works are careful explorations of form and color, of materiality, touch, and the Manuel López, Lone flower, book, and Voltron, Graphite, watercolor, and color pencil on Bristol board, 11 x 8.5 inches, 2022 presence of certain objects. I created most of the drawings during the Covid-19 lockdown from direct observation, always with attention to detail, confident lines, whimsical marks, and the flattening of space.
"What I love about drawing is its immediacy, the subtle mark-making, and the ability to take away my boredom. The paintings emerged from the drawings, and therein lay the fun problem at the center of the show, that of translating the drawings into paintings, making the paintings “act” like drawings. I am always looking to learn from many different artists. I looked hard at the work of David Hockney, Mamma Anderson, Jacob Lawrence, Diego Rivera, Hillary Pecis, and Horace Pippin, among others. I looked at Pre-Columbian codices, childhood cartoons, and painted signs found all over East LA/Boyle Heights, and this show seeks to engage in a visual conversation with all of these elements. I look to both the sublime and the commonplace. I excavate Mexican American culture, fine art history, and rasquachismo, and make them mine." —Manuel López
