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Going gothic: Alex Chavez explores themes of mortality through the human figure
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Weave the skull-like imagery of the Day of the Dead with goth鈥檚 dark spell, and you get the artwork of Alex Chavez.
On view at Santa Fe鈥檚 Keep Contemporary through Aug. 26, the Taos artist鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淭abula Rasa鈥� explores themes of mortality through the human figure.
Going gothic: Alex Chavez explores themes of mortality through the human figure
Through a parade of whitefaced women slashed by stitching or black scarring, Chavez seeks to celebrate the human spirit in all of its ephemerality.
鈥淢y goal is to create a form, a portrait of a human being with some kind of depth so you can see the thinking behind their eyes,鈥� Chavez said. 鈥淧eople want to know who the person is.鈥�
Born in Los Angeles and a graduate from the College of Fine Arts at California State College, Fullerton, Chavez began his artistic practice working with watercolors and acrylics. He switched to oils when he moved to Taos in 1997, where his mother was born.
鈥淢y maternal roots were we鈥檇 visit and feel more balanced here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 go back to LA and feel really out of balance. We both felt it was a better place to raise kids.鈥�
Chavez worked as a graphic designer and muralist in California. Then he began designing websites and teaching website design at the University of New Mexico in Taos.
He resigned in 2013 to become a full-time professional artist.
The artist describes his style as classic in the tradition of Old Masters such as John Singer Sargent, Vel谩squez and Rembrandt.
鈥淚 use professional paints and varnishes they used back then,鈥� he said.
To create his portraits, he uses copyright-free photographic references obtained on the internet, forming a composite.
He often paints from his iPad, using the grid method to transfer his images to canvas.
The Day of the Dead theme first arrived as a marketing technique, he acknowledged. Fascinated by the makeup and costuming, he鈥檚 also drawn to tribal ideas.
The goth theme grew from his punk rock years in California.
鈥淭he snakes, the skulls, today it鈥檚 scary and frightening to people,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen it was part of life, a transition like going to sleep and dreaming.
鈥淚n LA, Day of the Dead has gotten very spectacular,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭he costumes are of Hollywood quality. They have a huge ceremony in a cemetery in Hollywood.鈥�
His work sometimes reveals a hint of French Carnival.
Chavez describes his work as a mashup of these themes. Lately he鈥檚 been adding props like bats, insects and roses.
He鈥檚 also moving into full figures and multiple figures, exploring the intricacy and mystery of body language.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to show we鈥檙e all just from one tribe with all these cultural things in common, like pagan and pre-Christian rites,鈥� he said.
He says his next figures will be no less than 2 feet tall, with multiple forms and pairings.
鈥淢y definition of art is I have the tenacity to suffer through and fail and fail and fail until I get what I want,鈥� he added. 鈥淲hen I鈥檓 alone with my painting, I鈥檓 transcending.鈥�
Chavez鈥檚 work has been acquired by multiple public collections, including the Museum of International Folk Art and the National Hispanic Cultural Center, as well as the purchase of a painting for the set of the TV hit series 鈥淏reaking Bad.鈥� He was recognized by the New Mexico Senate in 2005 and received a blue ribbon for his work in 2007 from the Contemporary Hispanic Market in Santa Fe.
