Artist Statement

Carlos Frías’s most recent works are part of a larger puzzle, which once completed will form a spatial creation myth.  In his pieces Carlos explores humankind as a microcosm represented by its most elementary components, through its continual development, toward what we are to become as a species.

Some of Carlos’s art attempts to strip us of our spirituality and our culture, representing us as organic forms bound to decompose and regenerate. Works from the same series highlight our humanity- our creativity, our relationships, our urge to grow, and at times, to self-destruct.

A poignant element of Carlos’s expression is the media he uses.  At times the media is carbon on craft paper, organic, much like the subject matter, all decomposable.  His works in oils correlate to early man’s understanding of manipulating cellular structures to create a more enduring and aesthetically pleasing product, with art as with the human body.  Carlos’s paintings are mostly comprised of manmade materials, like acrylics, that can be preserved for longer, but not forever, much like our inexhaustible quest to slow the aging process.

Modern’s man pursuit of self-preservation and artistic self-representation has led to drastic manipulations, which Carlos has exemplified through audiovisual sources.  Digital media almost immortalizes our society, and we are now able to maintain our observable cells for centuries, much longer than at any other time in history.

Carlos’s creation myth has been years in the making, and is not yet complete.  He continues to visually exemplify the parallel between what art is able to represent of the evolution of humankind and how much we want to preserve and manipulate art to represent the history of our species.

 

Carlos has been making great strides towards completing the sequences in his creation myth, exploring more phases from protozoa to advanced civilization.  He is currently working towards revealing more pieces to the puzzle, and has a vision to incorporate even more media.  Although in his home studio Carlos primarily paints, works with cutting linoleum for printmaking, and creates video art, he is very comfortable working with intaglio, relief printing, photography and all digital media.  Carlos completed his BFA in painting and a fellowship in printmaking, many courses in audio engineering, and has held several positions as a graphic artist.

For examples of Carlos’s works, his website www.carlosfrias.com shows many pieces from his painting, drawing, printmaking and video projects.

 

Biography

Carlos Frías is an artist currently living in New Jersey.  He often travels to the Dominican Republic, where his work is represented by District&Co. Gallery.

For 2011 Carlos has just been named The Printmaking Center of New Jersey’s artist-in-residence.  He is spending much of this spring creating an extension of his current portfolio, delving deeper into his personal creation myth.  The opening for Cold, an ongoing exhibit including Carlos’s recent paintings and prints, was in January 2011 in Montclair, NJ.  Carlos is currently showcasing his video art online.  For his 2011 piece Perpetual Refinement Carlos was recently named a finalist in the Pernod Absinthe Creator of Art contest.

Previous to these current exhibits, Carlos created mixed media pieces, like a DreamBox, which was part of a larger show under the gallery that represents him.  Carlos has had several paintings exhibited there, as well as at the Fiart International Art Fair at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Santo Domingo.

Carlos’s strong background in printmaking not only earned him his current artist-in-residence position, but also a fellowship and first place in Parsons Printmakers while in college.  Many of Carlos’s prints and works in other media have been shown in exhibitions in the United States and places abroad, including Venezuela, Japan and Spain.

Most of Carlos’s international endeavors are based in Santo Domingo, where he was born 1969.  He attended Altos de Chavón and from there received his BFA in painting from Parsons Art School in 1993.

Carlos has worked as a graphic artist and as a production artist.  Also he has taught art to special needs children and to college students at his alma mater, Altos de Chavón.

 

Education

1993     Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Parsons School of Design, NY, NY.
1991     Associates Degree in Painting and Illustration, Altos de Chavón School of Design, La Romana, DR.

 

Honors, Awards, Grants, Residencies

1996     First Place in Mixed Media, XX National Visual Arts Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, DR.
1995     Artist in Residence, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, DR.
1995     The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Fellowship, NY, NY.
1993     Winner, Parsons Printmakers, Parsons School of Design, NY, NY.
1991     Ruth Vanderpool Altos de Chavón – Parsons Institutional Scholarship for Excellence, NY, NY.
1990     Parsons Institutional Scholarship for Special Summer Program, NY, NY.

 

Bibliography and Publications

2009     District & Co. Bienes Raices & Arte, Santo Domingo, DR.
2008     Carol Fashion Heart, Santo Domingo, DR.
1994     XIX Bienal Nacional de Artes Visuales, Catálogo 28.2.94, Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, DR.
1994     Sensación magazine, First Edition, Santo Domingo, DR.
1992     The Puerto Rican Cuisine, NY.

 

Related Work Experience

2007     Fine Arts Framer, Knightworks, Jersey City, NJ.
2006     Art Teacher, CREATE, NY, NY.
2005     Package Designer, Genio Group, NY, NY.
2003     Graphic Designer, Tactica International, NY, NY.
2002     Wallworks Designer, NOVO Arts, NY, NY.
2001     Production Artist, FutureBrand Hypermedia, NY, NY.
1998     Assistant Surface Designer, Simon & Janus, NY, NY.
1995     Instructor of Life Drawing, Altos de Chavón, La Romana, DR.
1995     Graphic Designer, Editorial Doble A, Santo Domingo, DR.
1992     Assistant to Larry Rivers, NY, NY.

 

Exhibitions

2011     Cold, group exhibition, GalleryU, Montclair, NJ.
2010     DreamBox Project, District&Co., Santo Domingo, DR.
2009     Yozo Hamaguchi International Print Exhibition, Musee Hamaguchi Yozo, Tokyo, Japan.
2009     Fiart International Art Fair, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, DR.
2009     25th National Visual Arts Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, DR.
2008     First International Biennial of Small Format, Maracay, Venezuela.
2008     Zeppelin 2008, Deafness, Barcelona, Spain.
2007     Hoboken Studio Artists’ Tour, Hoboken, NJ.
2007     24th National Visual Arts Biennial, Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, DR.
2001     Boom, solo exhibition, NY, NY.
1996     Tenri School, group exhibition, NY, NY.
1994     E. León Jiménez Art Biennial, group exhibition, Santiago, DR.
1994     Celebrating the Altos – Parsons Affiliation, group exhibition, Kanasawa, Japan.
1993     Celebrating the Altos – Parsons Affiliation, group exhibition, NY, NY.

 

  1. June 8, 2020

    I love your work!

  2. Determined and impassioned work for our difficult time.

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