Esteban del Valle, a Chicago native, is an interdisciplinary artist now based in Brooklyn. Del Valle’s work mixes painting, drawing, sculpture, video, and street art. That versatile approach can be seen in the recent body of work “Displacing Waves,” a vibrant, distorted collection of pieces that tap into the style of political cartoons. The artist displayed the work at Superchief Gallery in Los Angeles earlier this year, and most recent works-in-progress can be seen on his Instagram, here.
His subjects, often with exaggerated features and expressions, are vessels in which del Valle explores the relationship between sects of the American population. Themes of colonialism and of displacement play out through this work—and past efforts. He explains the latest work in an artist statement: “Rapidly, community after community is pushed aside to another corner of the city, safe for a moment. Ultimately, we are pushing and pulling in a fluid space, creating no solutions, but only violent movement. Just displacing waves.”
The artist’s knack for work that challenges carries into his career as a street artist. Del Valle doesn’t just react to political and social divides; his work also touches on the art world’s relationships with both makers and audiences. And with shows like “Displacing Waves,” the artist widened the scope of his perspective with a cross-country trip that took him to Alaska, Miami, Los Angeles, and his current home of New York.
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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
There’s a shapeshifting quality to the paintings Ricardo Estrada, whose subjects are physically inhabited by cultural iconography. The Los Angeles native specifically focuses on Chicano culture, whether in his murals or acrylic paintings. Each carries intricate brushwork that allows Estrada to transition between differing textures and planes of reality.