José Parlá: Walls, Diaries, and Paintings

José Parlá (born 1973) derives his art from the accretions and damage of city walls, and the record they supply of neighborhood character and local history. To these collectively authored public surfaces, Parlá brings a consciousness of art history, and the transformations of graffiti traditions dating back to ancient Rome by painters such as Twombly, Basquiat and Kiefer. His mixed media works sometimes employ fresco techniques and include acrylic, oil paints, plaster, posters used as collage, homemade inks and enamel spray paint. Parlá's archeological works celebrate the chronicles of the urban fabric as a diary: he writes, "as my works evolved, be it paintings, signatures, or even the documentation of these early ephemeral artworks throughout city walls, the works took on the nature of personal journals based on empirical experiences." This volume surveys his two-decade oeuvre.