ANIMATION MASTER JORGE R. GUTIERREZ
(BOOK OF LIFE, EL TIGRE)
RETURNS TO FINE ART WITH BORDER BANG 2
Sequel art show to his 2016 Border Bang debut
includes 5 other artists who share Jorge’s love of hybrid pop culture.
OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, October 20
5 – 9 PM
Exhibit Runs October 20 – December 30, 2018
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Coagula Curatorial Art Gallery is pleased to present Border Bang 2, an exhibition of original new and bootlegged art works organized by celebrated artist, animator, writer, and movie director Jorge R. Gutierrez.
Border Bang 2 continues Jorge’s passionate love letter to the cultural collisions that occur out of the Tijuana and US border, rendering his versions of the bootleg artifacts sold to locals and tourists alike.
Re-appropriating the bombardment of pop culture images is the border’s reaction to global issues and events. In cultural spaces marked by hybridity, viewers and consumers know not to glorify the political but rather to acknowledge its cultural impact through subversive presentation.
In an era where cultural appropriation policing has become a favored virtue signaling strategy, Gutierrez remind us that artistic inspiration can come from anywhere and should be open to anyone.
Border Bang 2 is the sequel to Jorge’s triumphant debut solo show at the Gregorio Escalante Gallery in 2016. This exhibit was originally intended for the Gregorio Escalante Gallery and will feature paintings, prints, sculptures and an altar to the late Greg Escalante in tribute. Jorge’s work in the show is included in the hardcover book Border Bang to be published in October by Cernunnos and released the day after the exhibition opens with a book signing.
While the original Border Bang featured vibrant and colorful pop culture portraits in the style of his award-winning animated films, Border Bang 2 delves deeper into the theme of art at the site of cultural collisions and investigates themes of appropriation, knock-offs, homages, and the outright absconding of intellectual property.
Gutierrez has brought along five artistic border comrades for this edition, each reveling in the possibilities that borrowing and bootlegging bring to visual art when it takes on pop culture:
-Sandra Equihua – Emmy winning artist for “El Tigre” and “The Book of Life”, born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico.
-Gerald De Jesus – Emmy winning artist for “El Tigre” and “Teen Titans Go!” Art Center grad. Born and raised in the US Mexico border.
-Robot Soda – Art Directed campaigns for Pepsi, Nike, illustrated children’s books and toy design. Born and raised in the US Mexico border.
-Raul The Third – Pura Belpre award winning illustrator of “Lowriders to the Center of the Earth”. Raised in the border town of El Paso/Juarez he made his way north with his wife Elaine Bay and makes his home in the Boston area.
-Alfredo Echeverria Ripstein – Mexican artist living in LA. Jorge and Alfredo collaborated on a series of Bootleg homage paintings for the show.
Jorge Gutierrez “border bang” book cover
-About the show organizer:
Born in Mexcio City and raised in Tijuana, Jorge R. Gutierrez is the acclaimed director of the Golden Globe nominated film “The Book of Life” and the creator (with wife and muse Sandra Equihua) of the Emmy Award Winning animated TV Series “El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera”. He is currently working on a top secret project for Netflix in Los Angeles where he lives with his family.
-Border Bang 2 opens with a reception for the artists on Saturday, October 20, 5-9 PM. The artists will all be present at the opening.
-The official book signing for Jorge’s book Border Bang (Cernunnos, 2018) is Sunday, October 21, 2-5pm at the gallery
Coagula Curatorial is in Chinatown, Downtown L.A. at 974 Chung King Road
The Chung King Road Pedestrian Plaza abuts the 900 block of North Hill Street,
west of the Central Chinatown Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012
-The exhibition runs October 20 through December 30
-The Gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 1-6 PM to the public free of charge
and by private viewing appointment for curators, press and art collectors.
