CHRIS MENDOZA AND KENJI HIRATA "UNIVERSAL APPEAL"

COlab is pleased to present "Universal Appeal" an exhibition featuring paintings by Chris Mendoza and Kenji Hirata. The exhibition opens Saturday, November 1 and runs through November 25, 2003.

Chris Mendoza and Kenji Hirata have long collaborated in the studio as well as in public painting and films projects. "Universal Appeal" brings their work together for the first time in this exhibition of recent color work Ü which range from small paintings to larger mural-style canvases. Special prints and a pair of custom-made, painted speakers were created for the show. Mendoza and Hirata collaborated with Cannonball Press to produce the edition of silkscreen prints.

Chris Mendoza is a New York based painter whose work draws from the culture of his native Nicaragua and the influences of New York and Miami. MendozaÍs style combines elements of the architectural draftsmanship he learned very early on from his father, an architect in Nicaragua with inspirations of letters, faces, and forms that covered the subways of New York City when his family moved to the Bronx in the early 80's. Mendoza later moved to Miami, where he attended the center for media arts. Mendoza admires works of Matta, Kandinsky, Miró, and Frank Lloyd Wright and is inspired by Central and North American Indian art. As a founding member of the Inkheads and an influential member of the Barnstormers, Mendoza has been involved in collaborative art making for over a decade.

Kenji Hirata is a New York based painter from Nagasaki, Japan. In his paintings, he incorporates the five elements of water, fire, metal, wood, and soil. Hirata moves confidently between compositions of layered density and vast areas of open fields and cleas forms. In his words, his work "attempts to reveal something deep within the spirit of things." He is guided by the Buddhist idea that emptiness is everything eternal. Strongly inspired by nature, his work also has strong reference to the vibrancy of Jamaican dance hall sound systems, the billboards and hand painted signage of Southeast Asia, the sci-fi futurism and structure of H.R. Geiger, Phase2, Doze, Skwerm, Mike Ming, and the Barnstormers crew. As an original member of the Barnstomers, Hirata has created large-scale public mural paintings in New York, Miami, and the rural town of Cameron, NC, where the artist collective was founded.

"Universal Appeal" explores themes of commonality between the two artists. While their influences are varied and seemingly disparate, the worlds they have evolved within their work share much similarity. Their paintings each contain vocabularies rich with symbols, and icons and are filled with energy, movement, and a highly stylized use of character(s) developed within their personal language. Their paintings often reveal futuristic mindscapes Ü each with a strong use of line, drawing, and color.

The opening reception for the artists will be Saturday, November 1 from 7-10pm; gallery hours are Thursday Ü Sunday, 12-6pm and by appointment:

487 Atlantic Avenue (b/w Nevins Street and 3rd Avenue)
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Directions

Contact:
917-365-6168
info@colab-projects.com