After Angel Otero paints an image onto a pane of glass, he carefully peels off the "sheets of oil paint" and affixes them onto a canvas, frame, or piece of furniture, creating vibrant, textured abstractions. On view at Lehmann Maupin's Chrystie Street location is Otero's first solo exhibition featuring rich works that combine Spanish Baroque imagery with influences from the artist's personal life including his childhood in Puerto Rico and his relationship with his family.
Born in San Juan in 1981, Otero received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and currently splits his time between Chicago and Brooklyn. Regarding his dynamic, expressive, process-based works, Otero aims to "give a sense of abundance, unbalance, ambition, courage, and persistence within form, color and texture in every painting," (from show's press release). Otero's works are perfectly imperfect as they bunch up in creases and spill off edges. Like the saggy skin of a Shar Pei or the rumpled sheets of an unmade bed, Otero's pieces conceal and distort an array of words, images, and patterns between their many undulating wrinkles and folds. Learn more at Lehmannmaupin.com. Through April 10th.
Up All Night, 2011
Left to Wonder, 2011
In the mood for love, 2011
Couch Habits, 2011
Still life with blue pot, 2011
Summer in the middle of nowhere, 2011
I can hear the world beginning, 2011
There's nothing so I wonder, 2011
Mailbox, 2011
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