PRESS RELEASE
The exhibition title, Between 10 and 4000 Paintings, refers to the production methods Estrada-Vega employs. Multiple small square monochromes make up his compositions, hence the 4000 Paintings. Each square is backed by a magnet, allowing it to hold its place in the painting. The synthetic, saturated palette favored by the artist is connected to his native province in Mexico, and the urban landscape of Southern California, where he lives.
Estrada-Vega states,
“I paint monochrome paintings arranged into large compositions. Each individual painting is not as important to me as the labor of producing a large composition. Although finished and hung individually, each painting is only a part of a larger composition, much larger than the piece itself. Each piece is a hand made object: canvas stretched on wood; with colors mixed from pigments and mediums. My work is labor-intensive, repetitive and limited by the borders of the square. The process requires discipline (in producing so many paintings). Color combinations are arranged by intuition, random selection and personal taste.”
It is tempting to apply Estrada-Vega’s working methods to a broader social construct. Each individual is equally important. Its absence affects the whole, yet in order to succeed, each individual must surrender itself to the overall.