the edge of flesh and blood
Montclair State University Galleries
Montclair, NJ
September 14 - December 1, 2023
Montclair State University Galleries
Montclair, NJ
September 14 - December 1, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
the edge of flesh and blood, installation view, 2023
Joseph Parra’s paintings in the edge of flesh and blood explore the larger consequences of searching for validation, inspiration, and intimacy through digital images asking “How does desire change when life is mediated through screens?”
Using acrylic paint and a custom wooden rig, Parra squeezes hundreds of globs of paint by hand in a quasi-grid-like fashion on a single canvas. Together, the individual drops of paint create a larger image, similar to how individual pixels function as the building blocks of screen-based images. Parra relies on the physical presence and dimensionality of the paint to bring awareness to the fleeting nature of digital images that project ideals of sex, power, and fantasy. He isolates torsos, arms, and chests with a particular focus on the male body to draw attention to notions of masculinity and how these images circulate online. The hollow nature of the images he references is also explored through ideas of anonymity. For example, there are no distinct, identifiable features such as a face present in the paintings - these bodies belong to everyone and no one. Similarly, Parra depicts these hyper-aestheticized bodies in nondescript environments that appear more like loading screens or low-fi renderings than actual places further suggesting an idea of an impossible setting or unattainable reality.
The resulting images are as seductive as they are frustrating and forlorn. Tucked behind glass display cases, Parra’s paintings pull at our desire by showing muscular bodies flexing, prone, strong, and vulnerable all while the mounds of paint result in a topography of textures that beg to be touched yet are out of reach. This very act of denial is a core concern for Parra as he confronts the difficulties of living up to the expectations embedded within depictions of power, sex, and perfection. Through these paintings, Parra simultaneously problematizes, eroticizes, and examines the hyper-idealized presentations of the body. Ultimately, Parra’s paintings draw into focus the gaze we find ourselves trapped in, staring into a black mirror asking us to desire the impossible realities bestowed by these images and the lifestyles they trade in.
This exhibition is curated by Jesse Bandler Firestone, Curator and Exhibition Coordinator at Montclair State University Galleries.
Using acrylic paint and a custom wooden rig, Parra squeezes hundreds of globs of paint by hand in a quasi-grid-like fashion on a single canvas. Together, the individual drops of paint create a larger image, similar to how individual pixels function as the building blocks of screen-based images. Parra relies on the physical presence and dimensionality of the paint to bring awareness to the fleeting nature of digital images that project ideals of sex, power, and fantasy. He isolates torsos, arms, and chests with a particular focus on the male body to draw attention to notions of masculinity and how these images circulate online. The hollow nature of the images he references is also explored through ideas of anonymity. For example, there are no distinct, identifiable features such as a face present in the paintings - these bodies belong to everyone and no one. Similarly, Parra depicts these hyper-aestheticized bodies in nondescript environments that appear more like loading screens or low-fi renderings than actual places further suggesting an idea of an impossible setting or unattainable reality.
The resulting images are as seductive as they are frustrating and forlorn. Tucked behind glass display cases, Parra’s paintings pull at our desire by showing muscular bodies flexing, prone, strong, and vulnerable all while the mounds of paint result in a topography of textures that beg to be touched yet are out of reach. This very act of denial is a core concern for Parra as he confronts the difficulties of living up to the expectations embedded within depictions of power, sex, and perfection. Through these paintings, Parra simultaneously problematizes, eroticizes, and examines the hyper-idealized presentations of the body. Ultimately, Parra’s paintings draw into focus the gaze we find ourselves trapped in, staring into a black mirror asking us to desire the impossible realities bestowed by these images and the lifestyles they trade in.
This exhibition is curated by Jesse Bandler Firestone, Curator and Exhibition Coordinator at Montclair State University Galleries.