Santiago Parra: Upheaval

14 July - 15 August 2020

'When suddenly without wanting it, my arms lift the brush and a splash marks the beginning of the painting, in stupor I watch how the brush moves up and down, side to side and something gets written down on the canvas, I know it's my unconscious writing but while it happens I am a witness to it all. When the energy has come out I know it's time to lift the brush out of the canvas. The painting has now finished, I look up, exhausted, seeing it for the first time, I am surprised, amazed, at how this intriguing image has come out of myself'

- Santiago Parra

JD Malat Gallery is proud to present Upheaval, a solo exhibition by Colombian artist Santiago Parra, from 15th July to 15th August.

Following Rising Action, the ground breaking solo exhibition that took place in 2018, Santiago Parra is back with his most accomplished body of work to date. Parra has described this exhibition as being more refined and more attuned. He has changed the way paint is applied and chosen deeper blacks with subtle nuances resulting in a more defined brushstroke. The change of style can be attributed to the period of isolation enforced by Covid-19 which had a direct impact on the artist's aesthetic.

The exhibition consists of fourteen mid to large format paintings created in a span of six months. These paintings were produced during the Covid-19 lockdown, a time of intense emotional tension for the artist. As a result, immense amounts of energy exude from the paintings. There's a lot of angularity and composition is highly dynamic while brushstrokes appear to vibrate out of the canvas. Indeed, the artist called the exhibition Upheaval after seeing the paintings together. He liked how the word upheaval refers both to a massive telluric movement and also denotes a violent disruption of his inner feelings.