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| Indradhanush |
Guerra De La Paz is the combined name of two Miami-based artists Alain Guerra and Neraldo de le Paz. They create sculptural artworks out of discarded clothing. Each series of their work has some message and a definite meaning. The duo gives a new life to the trash clothing.
"Through a common aesthetic, we create work with a universal message. Using recycled objects our medium and the guidance of the unrelenting amounts of information that fuels today's mass consciousness and it's subversive parallels", share the artists.
Their work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. Their work has been talked about in many international publications such as NY Arts, Art Nexus, The Chicago Sun times and many more. Their creations are a real beauty and each one of them is a representation of their caliber and hard work. Lets get tuned in their interview below:
Neraldo and Alain, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.
Hello there! We are two fellows brought together by fate and both share a passion with creating objects that reflect our perspectives on a universal level. We have been living in Miami, Florida and in collaboration since 1995.
Enlighten our readers about your wonderful artwork.
We think that the best way to introduce our work is through images. You can visit our website http://www.guerradelapaz.com. We also have a blog where we post our most current images, press, inspiration and just things we like (http://www.guerradelapaz.blogspot.com).
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| Pieta |
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| Atomic |
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| Monday To Friday |
What all materials do you use for creating such unique works of art?
Any material is valid to us. We do avoid perishables because of the heat in Miami. We mainly have been focusing on re-purposing clothing although we incorporate other found materials that are usually rescued from the garbage. Almost everything can serve some sort of purpose. The marriage of such objects defines our contemporary culture and has its own distinct history, serving as archaeological relics whose energy often determines how the objects are used.
We feel materials pick us more than we pick materials and like to give a second life to objects that no longer serve their original purpose. We enjoy how cast offs are given a second chance to reborn.
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| Mort |
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| Oasis |
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| Spring Sprang Sprung |
What is your artwork based on? Who or what do you draw inspiration from?
Inspiration surrounds us all, one just has to open his eyes and be receptive to the abundant information in life. We look at history, contemporary local and global culture, contemporary issues, architecture, fashion, the news, music, and have an affinity to ancient global cultural references. The objects we re-purpose seam to find us by catching our eyes. Something tells you when its something worth picking up and try not to limit ourselves from exploring new possibilities determined by any previously set criteria.
We see individual items of clothing as a representative to the individuals who once wore them, collectively they form community. Thus the use of clothing represents humanity and archaeologically defines the times in which the clothing was used or fashionable. We see this intrinsic essence in the found materials as an organic catalyst to the evolution to the development to our work.
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| Stealing the Deal |
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| Red Carpet Keeper |
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| Ascension |
When did you begin your work? Take us on the journey to the day when you started till today. How it has been and how do you feel about it?
We were first introduced to one another in Chicago in the fall of 1995 where we were both living at that time. We got the chance to meet again at an evening before Alain moved back to Miami. We reconnected in Miami on New Years day 1996 and found a commonality, sharing strong connections. Shortly thereafter we ended up moving in together and decided to share a studio space as well where we could continue individual projects.
From there we abandoned our solo projects in order to experiment on some collaboration projects.Our collaborative process evolved organically and we were interested in the art representing who we were. Thus, becoming as a unit rather than our individual pasts. It was a coming together of hearts and minds.
We found ourselves interested in the found objects and acquired thousands of magazines and produced DE’ collage work on found plywood scraps which eventually evolved into paintings from 1996-2000. This 2 dimensional work referenced the billboard advertisements that dotted our urban landscape.
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| The Three Graces |
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| Man Down |
As South Florida’s nature’s fury deconstructed, these billboards new compositions emerged exposing previous layers creating beautiful palimpsests. We began to mimic the weather beaten billboards that dotted the immediate urban landscape by creating collages and then deconstructing them. We worked in this manner for approximately 4 years and included photographing the deconstruction process as a part of our repertoire.
We created 3 series of work using this technique. Personas –Glossies –Colorscapes.
Other photographic series evolved and are based on the materials we find in bulk like the “JOE” series (2005-2006), which documents military action figures in a variety of scenarios that address sociopolitical issues. From this, we began creating figurative and abstract sculptural works that we are probably best known for.
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| Personas |
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| Glossies |
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| Colorscapes |
Our process of creation is intuitive and reactionary, based on shared experiences and extended dialogue. The one rule we have always adhered to that we both must always be satisfied with a work, both on a visual and conceptual level for it to evolve and materialize. After so many years working together – we find it would be disorienting to continue to work without each other and appreciate the comradely and what we have.
We started taking photographs of clothing stuck in barbed wire around 1999. We would find these randomly around our immediate studio and surrounding neighborhoods and found the images engaging and compelling so we began to document them creating an ongoing photo series; a series of photographs we titled “BARBED”.
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| Barbed 2000 |
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| Barbed 2010 |
This lead us to begin collecting found garments for our first clothing works around 2000. Our first clothing piece publicly showed was titled “TRIBUTE”, 2002.
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| Tribute |
The work consists of a large mound of selected garments that are color-coded and resembles a rainbow haystack or a multicolored gumdrop. This piece grew through out the years (every time it was publicly exhibited and currently stands at 12 x 12 feet) It will be next exhibited in Chicago in 2012. It is part of a private collection. The abundance of clothing possesses history, color, and textures we did not find easily in paint and were attracted to the tactility and aspects of its manipulation. The fact that it was free and very pliable was also a major reason why we started to work with it. It also was a non-traditional material and saw great possibilities for experimentation - which is very important to our collaborative efforts.
We utilize the intrinsic essence in the found materials we use as the principal dictates of how and in which artworks we used the materials. We believe the clothing reveals to us how they want to be used.
Well, that's quite interesting. Neraldo and Alain, tell me which creation of yours is closest to your heart and why?
Although we usually feel closest to the most recent work we have finished working on. We are quite fond of Male Torso #1 2009-2010.
WHY: Because it’s a newer work and one of the most intricate and challenging works we have created to date.
It allowed for us to create a realistic rendition of a male nude figure that mimics ancient Greco-Roman marble sculpture but made from ordinary found materials such as deconstructed garments, shoulder pads and pillows.
The piece took almost a full year to complete and we accomplished our set goals while working out the translucent qualities marble possesses in textile while controlling shape and form from bulky pillows, shoulder pads and other re-purposed found textiles.
From a distance Male Torso # 1 appears to be a marble statue. It is the first of an ongoing series that will take years – perhaps our lifetime to fully explore.
Currently, which project are you working on? Is there any project on the cards?
We are working on a solo exhibition for Galerie Kashya Hildebrand – Zurich, witzerland and an installation with a soundtrack and performer titled MANTO for the Prague Quadrennial 2011. Both venues open on June 2011. We then have various other solo exhibitions in USA along with several artist lectures. We are booked till 2012.
Many aspiring artists would draw inspiration from you? What would you like to advise them?
Discover and develop your own personal voice without following trends. It is better to make the trend than follow an existing one. Devote your time and energy wisely. Be objective and very critical for your own work.
Don’t listen to the status quo - telling you what to do to fit in but always regard commentary as it may be revealing. Stay true to yourself and don’t let success get over your head.
Neraldo and Alain, thanks for sharing your story with us. We are extremely delighted to have you guys on E-junkie and wish you all the very best!
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