Jan 29th 2016

Daniel Rios Rodriguez

@ Western Exhibitions

835 W. Washington Blvd. 2nd Floor

Opening Friday, January 29th, from 5PM - 8PM

On view through Saturday, March 12th

Western Exhibitions presents its first solo show by Daniel Rios Rodriguez, featuring all new paintings and drawings in his signature intimate, autobiographical style. The exhibition opens on Friday, January 29, 5 to 8pm and runs through March 12, 2016.

Evolving beyond the momento mori skulls, vanitas objects, and figures—including images of his family— from his prior works, Rodriguez is now focusing on the natural landscape and the flotsam he finds within it.

Every bit as personal as his previous work, it’s also hyper-local. Rodriguez collects pieces of snake skin, t-shirt fabric, small shells and bits of wood from around the San Antonio River where he lives in South Texas, and collages them onto his paintings and frames. Dirt and stains are left in place, and thick layers of paint are often incised with graphic mark making. Frames are burnt, stapled or smashed, and the work’s overall grittiness and rough edges reflect Rodriguez’ experiences in the last year.

Rodriguez has been pursuing a singular vision from the start. Influenced by self-taught and folk artists as much as Picasso and Frida Kahlo, each work on view is an important phrase in the development of his unique visual vocabulary. Entropy and pathos are present, but they’re tempered by freedom and optimism. More then anything, this new body of work represents the growth that comes as a byproduct of survival.

Daniel Rios Rodriguez (b. Killeen, TX 1978) has had solo shows at White Columns and Sargent’s Daughters, both in New York and at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. He’s been included in exhibitions at Wilkinson Gallery in London, Roberts & Tilton Gallery in Los Angeles, Horton Gallery in Berlin, James Harris Gallery in Seattle, among several others. He is a 2013 recipient of a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and his work has been discussed in Frieze and the Los Angeles Times. Daniel Rios Rodriguez lives and works in San Antonio, Texas.

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