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Antonio Pelayo
"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" (FRAMED) Painting 24" x 30" inch by Antonio Pelayo

2024

About the Item

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" (FRAMED) Painting 24" x 30" inch by Antonio Pelayo Medium: Marker on paper Size: 24" x 30" inch Size framed: 27.5" x 34" inch From Pelayo VS Pelayo exhibition: The exhibition highlights the distinct yet intertwined creative paths of the Isaac and Antonio Pelayo, bound by a shared legacy and an ongoing, vibrant dialogue that runs through their works. There are few examples in the history of art where a father and son achieve such remarkable success that they warrant a joint exhibition. GALLERY THIRTYSIX's show of Isaac and Antonio Pelayo is one such rare instance that showcases the evolution of their unique styles over the past decade. This exhibition highlights the distinct yet intertwined creative paths of the Pelayos, bound by a shared legacy and an ongoing, vibrant dialogue that runs through their works. Isaac’s work is a dynamic fusion where the revered tropes of Renaissance iconography meet the raw, visceral energy of modern street art, deeply one infused with a distinctly West Coast sensibility. His canvases feature a jujitsu of sorts between spray paint and the bold oil pastel strokes with references to the diverse toolbox of post-WW II Pop and Conceptual Art. Isaac's stylistic idiom hints at John Baldessari’s canvases with erased faces and Warhol’s beatification of the readymade, but he infuses these approaches with the grit and vibrancy of Los Angeles street culture. The result is a visual dialogue that captures the tension between high and low, the sacred and the profane, all while asserting a uniquely Californian voice. Antonio Pelayo’s recent collection offers a profound exploration of cultural identity, deftly navigating the interplay between tradition and modernity. Meticulously crafted in a hybrid of pencil and acrylic ink, each piece testifies to Antonio’s ability to merge the familiar with the surreal, inviting viewers into a world where the boundaries between past and present blur, allowing cultural symbols to take on new, poignant meanings. His portrait series features graphite faces emerging from playful, abstracted bodies, creating a layered narrative of identity. The juxtaposition of realistic portraiture with stylized, almost cartoonish figures reflects the duality that many experience—rooted in tradition yet continually shaped by contemporary influences. Antonio’s use of vivid primary colors and symbolic imagery weaves a visual language that echoes the complexities of cultural memory and the immigrant experience, offering a compelling commentary on belonging and identity in a rapidly evolving world. Hosted by Houston Hospitality Group Curated by JM Art Management Artist Antonio Pelayo, born in Glendale, California, and yet raised for most of his childhood in the Mexican countryside, has never had his own country. Moving from an American suburb to a tiny village has kept his world unstable, yet that very instability has made him an artist. Antonio was born in 1973 in a comfortable, quintessentially American suburb: close neighbors, picket fences, movie theatres, malls, and English all around. At nine, his family sent him back to his father’s village in Mexico, where the environment radically changed: old broken down adobe churches replaced galleries and the trappings of suburbia. Some adjustments were difficult, like dealing with outdoor plumbing and the transition to a Spanish-speaking environment. Teased and ostracized by other kids, and unable to communicate with the adults, Antonio looked elsewhere for, if not companionship, at least solace. He found it with a pencil and in the pews. He snuck into the village church and stared up at the murals of martyrdom. He hid in the dark corners and sketched the artwork that covered the walls and altars. Antonio sought out the work of other Mexican artists, making them his mentors; his friends. Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Orozco, all revealed to Antonio the depth of Mexican art and its movement from the shadows of the Catholic Church into the modern world. He learned Spanish. He strove to master it, hoping to communicate with the folks of the village. Still, there was a gap; the language barrier between poor farmers and the middle class kept him from meeting people on an intimate level. Nevertheless, he now had three languages: English, Spanish, and his drawings. Years later his family brought him back to Glendale, which he now saw through the lens of Mexico. It looked unreal; it did not look like home. Nothing looked like home anymore; not Mexico, not Southern California. The one home he had was his art. Though his mastery of pencil and paper began in the nave of an old country church in Mexico, in America his skill developed even further. Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, and the surreal work of H.R. Giger, all mixed and blended with his Mexican childhood to make Antonio into a true American artist. In 1994, Pelayo joined Disney Studio’s illustrious Ink & Paint Department, where he learned traditional celluloid animation techniques. Once big enough to occupy the majority of the Disney Studio lot, the department had survived the advent of digital animation as a tiny one-room holdover from the ‘Golden Era’ of American animation. In this room, amidst some 4,000 different types of paints and inks, Pelayo found shelter – working for a company that had always valued creativity, raw talent, and imagination. Through exhibitions organized by the studio to showcase the work of its employees, Pelayo had his first brush with the notion that his works could be framed, hung on a wall, and exhibited in such a way that they could have a direct and powerful impact on an audience. In 2005, with his first art show, a new chapter in Pelayo’s career had begun. “I’ve tried landscapes and fantasy scenes,” he says, “but it’s the portrait that fascinates me. That intimacy between the subject and the artist, the vulnerability that the subject must have to my interpretation—that is trust at its most divine." Antonio Pelayo moved inward to find an intimacy that we all crave. With his hand, he drew himself into darkness and solitude – into a place where he could discover his art. Now, that art goes public and finds a home in the world beyond.
  • Creator:
    Antonio Pelayo
  • Creation Year:
    2024
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Culver City, CA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1085116281882

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