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.
2 Comments
Fran Eber
June 8, 2020
I love your work!
Daniel Patrick Basso Quinn
October 8, 2022
Determined and impassioned work for our difficult time.
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