Joshua Liner Gallery

Press Release

Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Daily Habits, an exhibition of new work by the Nicaraguan-born, New York-based artist Chris Mendoza.

Comprised of twenty ink-on-handmade paper and carving-on-Masonite works, Daily Habits showcases Mendoza’s signature drawing practice, which builds up intricate images from fine mark-making. Evocative of both Mesoamerican hieroglyphs and Middle-Eastern calligraphy, Mendoza’s compositions have two registers—from a distance, they appear as delicate, lace-like landscapes; up close, they are an astonishing tangle of doodled shapes that resemble medical instruments, precision parts, space ships, radio towers, futuristic automobiles, and other assorted odds and ends of machined technology.

Calling to mind the abstract works of Miro and Kandinsky, the Chilean modernist Matta, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Mendoza has developed a distinctive language of spiky, angular symbols that blend the natural and mystical folklore of his childhood with the density and chaos of urban life. This visual interplay of the ancient and contemporary is grounded in descriptive line work that creates a sense of movement and energy. The multitudinous elements are gracefully integrated into horizon- or orb-like compositions, emphasizing the distinct qualities of mark-making in dramatic relation to the unblemished surfaces of paper and panel. According to the artist, a visual manifestation of the sonic combinations found in early hip-hop mix tapes and performances emanate from his surfaces.

As a boy, Chris Mendoza settled in New York City in the Bronx with his family in the 1980s. He learned architectural draftsmanship from his father at an early age, which combined with the influences of subway graffiti replete throughout the city at that time. He is a member of the Barnstormers collective of New York- and Tokyo-based artists, including Swoon, David Ellis, and fellow-Joshua Liner Gallery artist Kenji Hirata. Mendoza’s work has been featured in exhibitions at Museo de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico; White Box Gallery, New York; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Transport Gallery, Los Angeles; and Dyezu-Exp Gallery, Tokyo. Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to present Daily Habits, an exhibition of new work by the Nicaraguan-born, New York-based artist Chris Mendoza. Comprised of twenty ink-on-handmade paper and carving-on-Masonite works, Daily Habits showcases Mendoza’s signature drawing practice, which builds up intricate images from fine mark-making. Evocative of both Mesoamerican hieroglyphs and Middle-Eastern calligraphy, Mendoza’s compositions have two registers—from a distance, they appear as delicate, lace-like landscapes; up close, they are an astonishing tangle of doodled shapes that resemble medical instruments, precision parts, space ships, radio towers, futuristic automobiles, and other assorted odds and ends of machined technology. Calling to mind the abstract works of Miro and Kandinsky, the Chilean modernist Matta, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Mendoza has developed a distinctive language of spiky, angular symbols that blend the natural and mystical folklore of his childhood with the density and chaos of urban life. This visual interplay of the ancient and contemporary is grounded in descriptive line work that creates a sense of movement and energy. The multitudinous elements are gracefully integrated into horizon- or orb-like compositions, emphasizing the distinct qualities of mark-making in dramatic relation to the unblemished surfaces of paper and panel. According to the artist, a visual manifestation of the sonic combinations found in early hip-hop mix tapes and performances emanate from his surfaces. As a boy, Chris Mendoza settled in New York City in the Bronx with his family in the 1980s. He learned architectural draftsmanship from his father at an early age, which combined with the influences of subway graffiti replete throughout the city at that time. He is a member of the Barnstormers collective of New York- and Tokyo-based artists, including Swoon, David Ellis, and fellow-Joshua Liner Gallery artist Kenji Hirata. Mendoza’s work has been featured in exhibitions at Museo de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico; White Box Gallery, New York; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Transport Gallery, Los Angeles; and Dyezu-Exp Gallery, Tokyo.

Artist
Chris Mendoza

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Damon Soule and Chris Mendoza opening reception (October 12, 2008)