The Painting Portfolio of Art Carillo
Mexican American I, acrylic on canvas paper
Art Carrillo is a Los Angeles-based artist who works primarily in acrylic paints. Most recently, art has been creating unexpected still-life paintings of common household objects and detritus of modern life -- in particular, signifiers and objects from the artist’s own Chicano background and community.
HECHO EN MEXICO, acrylic on canvas
I really enjoy the way that Art renders these objects in paint. The subject matter of the works is not what you might expect to find in a typical, classical Western still life, and the artist’s use of similar visual tropes -- in terms of staging and composition -- lend further weight to these paintings.The artist’s skill with photo-realism provides a great space in which the viewer can recognize objects and attach a sense of their own meaning and connection.
Art's portfolio website, www.artcart9.com
Many of the artist’s works are painted in a deliberate staging, with an ever-present red curtain serving as backdrops. In recent works, Art has branched out to painting his still lifes in other settings, incorporating even further symbolic elements into the works.