EXHIBITION: Josh Reames & José Lerma at Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles

January 30 — March 5, 2016
@Luis de Jesus, Los Angeles

 

The Genesis of the Art World, or In the beginning was the Paint

Luis de Jesus Gallery got the great idea to suggest to two artists Josh Reames and José Lerma to come to the gallery in Residency to paint four hands for the whole month of January a group of paintings and sculpture whose centerpiece is a pair of monumental paintings (composed of two triptychs) that measure 10 x 24 feet each (over 3 x 7 meters).

It’s a relief to see that those two buzzy artists put their ego on the side to deliver a truly four hands art work.

or, in the beginning was… a palm tree

It was not an apple tree but a palm tree Josh Reames has started to paint in the very beginning on that large horizontal canvas. Then, the story began to grow in the mind of the two accomplices. They started with Puerto Rico to finally end with the Cayman Islands.

They discussed how paintings of such grand scale are typically acquired by a small group of collectors who have the space for them. These collectors invest in art and some even house their wealth in offshore havens. José noted the current financial problems of Puerto Rico and the discussions in the territory about becoming a tax haven for the rich like the Cayman Islands. As a result, the paintings took on their own fantastical narrative

It is interesting to see that although each painter has a personal painting process in which the multiple narratives come out only when the painting is completed, here, in that four hands experience they had to have a story to tell to help them to give some cohesion and balance between them. Their story is actually a version of the story of the Art market where many clues Where’s Waldo-like can be found to understand it all, and where like in Esope’s Fable, the Eagle and the Crow, there’s always a smarter to dominate the other. But be careful, the canons of anger began to rumble. By the way, Does this would not be the artists that pull the trigger?

Definitely a do not miss exhibition.

 

Exhibition Statement

For his second solo show at the Gallery, Josh Reames chose to invite his friend José Lerma to collaborate on works. Josh arrived in LA in early January 2016 and set about ordering stretchers and canvas with the intent of creating two large triptychs that would fill the walls of the front gallery.