03/04/2016

Othelo Gervacio is an American artist, living and working in New York City. Currently the Art Director for AllDayEveryday, he splits his time balancing between client work and personal creative endeavours. Inspired by the spirit of punk and metal, his body of work often features dark and confronting images created with his signature style of ink-wash and watercolour. Othelo sat down with SUPPLY to talk about the concept for his recent solo art show "All Apologies"  at NYC gallery MAGIC.

 

Hey Othelo, what have you been up to lately?

Hey guys!

I've just been bearing through the winter here in New York, though I was fortunate enough to have recently spend a few weeks in LA working on a project. I'm back now experimenting with new mediums and directions that I'm really excited about. 

You recently finished your second solo show at MAGIC gallery in New York, titled "All Apologies". How did that come about?

Yes. I couldn't be any happier with the turnout and the general response resulting from the show.  It all started as an idea for a series I wanted to make. I had made two flower pieces for a group show I was in previously and the reactions and different interpretations of the pieces intrigued me - so I went deeper into the study and concept. Once I had the idea a little more developed, I approached artist and project space owner Gogy Esparza on hosting the show. To me he has the best bespoke, downtown NY, gritty, Olde New York space and shows people he really believes in, which in turn I am super grateful for!

The flower combinations in the paintings seem to reflect the phrases of underlying text, were these at all influenced by music that you listening to at the time?

So, a little bit about the concept behind the show: All Apologies explored the parallels between a flower's quickly deteriorating beauty and the nature of intimate human relationships. The composition of each piece - the body language of the flowers and the typography (or lack thereof) paired with each - was used to convey certain emotions within a relationship's lifecycle, from breakup to makeup to "you up?" and every neurotic step between. The title of each piece was meant to add to the narrative, oftentimes using humor to juxtapose the otherwise serious nature of the visual.

Was there a particular ritual you had before starting each of these paintings?

Well there was a whole process. I would select flowers that spoke to me and had some sort of visual emotion attached. I would literally "cast" my subjects. I would then photograph them for the duration of their lives and then carefully select which image to paint. For the still life, sculptural pieces - there was a whole process for those as well. I found a technique on how to dry the flowers while retaining the color and natural shape of the flowers. After they were dried, I would select and "curate" the arrangements for each piece, matching or complimenting the painted phrase which sat under. 

Did you have a playlist or set of albums you listened to while working on the show?

Haha, yeah of course. It really kind of depended on how I feel that day. Sometimes it was punk, sometimes it was sludge metal, sometimes it was something more melodic and moody. I really like to switch it up because eventually I would get bored of listening to one particular genre of music for a long duration. A lot of the times I actually like to listen to audio books while making work as well. 

Is there anything that you're currently working on that you're excited about?

Just pushing new mediums and going larger in scale. I have a few little collaborations happening that are on the horizon as well including a new personal studio endeavor!

 

Thanks for your time Othelo!

Images courtesy of the artist.

Interview by Anthony Kwang

 

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