"FUTURE OF THE FUTURE”

New works by Louie Chavez

Contemporary Art Month at PLAZMO Contemporary

- © Gabriel Diego Delgado
gabrieldelgadoartstudio@yahoo.com
www.gabrieldiegodelgasdo.blogspot.com

Contemporary Art Month at PLAZMO Contemporary opens with a powerhouse of au courant eye-candy.  A new exhibition/ gallery/ studio space at 1101 W. Woodlawn San Antonio; PLAZMO Contemporary will be exhibiting new work by Louie Chavez, also Co-Owner of the cutting-edge venue, in an exhibition called “ Future of the Future”.

Sound  intriguing? - The owners of the space set the record straight - “PLAZMO  (the sound of shapelessness), this fictional word represents the mission statement of the gallery: to provide an opportunity for artists to create a multi-sensory experience within a contemporary space;  run by Texas based multi-media artists, Louie Chavez and James "Supa" Medrano.” 

Gallery interior, courtesy of PLAZMO

“Future of the Future” is a blast of the past, a sort of  “Oh my god you made a time machine out of a Delorean” moment for any gallery viewer. Showcasing a select body of new work; 8 new digital mixed media prints, and 4 large scale Acrylic paintings, Chavez guides us along a neon trip of 1980’s schmaltz. From Pop fashion, music, and cinema; decadent  video game culture; and a 80’s heyday of sports memorabilia references we are immersed in a cryptic pop culture cognizance of San Antonio artist, Louie Chavez.

Chavez’s “Future of the Future” exhibition statement notes, “…Chavez explores the cycle of fashion and social trends through recent time as they fade out and into our lives without notice...... it begins in the eighties, was vomited out in the nineties, and now is back in full form for the future of 2013!”  A misquoted anything old is new again statement that rounds out a fashion faux pas of  cultural trends evolving and becoming new again-i.e.-  1980’s breakdancing, 1960’s hippies, 1970’s disco, 1920’s flapper, etc. etc. But Chavez takes it to a higher level, with low resolution graphics, garbage pail kid references, bad 80’s parodies and the like.

With notable exhibitions at Lonestar Studios and Gallery, and MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM,
Louie Chavez has become the On-the-Scene Hipster of Pop Culture in a Post Andy Warhol era. Complete with 20 year old issue wrap-around, Star Trek (Data character ) inspired sunglasses, hypercolor  ®  fashion palette; a Mexican inspired Tuxedo t-shirt, and a charismatic attitude, Chavez’s fashion reflects his art aesthetic. Artistically, with “Future of the Future” we could not expect anything less from him.

A new work titled “Give In To The Skin” spews all this 80’s faddism. Supermodel anorexia on the bottom left is coupled with a central and classic Jaws shark profile;  mimicking the feminine and masculine of our contemporary culture of sexual desires. Low resolution video game backgrounds and graphics add filler to the overall composition of the art.. Eighties toy packaging fonts and lettering cry out for plausible recognition, inlaid with text referencing the art itself in a Damien Hirst egocentric amalgamation, while a neon R2D2 peaks the triangular retro-dated design. A grid like pattern acts a fashionista walkway guiding the viewer straight to the razor sharp teeth of the “You’ll never go in the water again”  swimming soubrette {JAWS}. Lined by cartoons volleying as catwalk audiences, this digitized path is for us, the viewer- the audience to join in on the Twilight Zone caricature-ization.

"Give In To The Skin", courtesy of the artist

With the title of the work itself  in Garbage Pail Kids®   lettering in the top right corner- “Give In To The Skin” is a concrete example of everything Louie Chavez. “Painted” in a cumbersome Microsoft Paint®   program in a post-Photoshop®  design world. Chavez holds true to a self imposed design integrity; a technology purist in all regards.

“Future of the Future”  is on exhibit from Thursday, March 7, 2013 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013, with an opening on March 7, 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm. PLAZMO Contemporary is located 1101 W. Woodlawn San Antonio, 78201. For more information call (210) 837-0561 or visit www.facebook.com/PlazmoContemporary.