///Note: We will hold a silent auction of one of Raul’s paintings during this event. The full proceeds will go to benefit Wes Putnam, who was critically injured when a speeding taxi hit him in April. More info about Wes: http://bit.ly/qbdtz2///

\\\This event will include a live performance by experimental percussionist, Ripley Tao.\\\

ANTI•TLED, New work by Chilean artist, Raul Pizarro. Opening reception and party at Laughing Tree Lab, September 17, 2011, 7pm-3am

For this show, Pizarro has painted a number of what he calls, ‘anti-portraits,’ wherein he uses digital post-processing to warp and distort photographs of his subjects and then uses these manipulations as reference for his paintings.

To better understand the intention driving Raul’s process, here is portion of his working artist statement for this series:

“This world we know is merely the surface of a vast, multiple universe of form where our true self is revealed. It’s a place where we can’t divide or distinguish our emotions from our thoughts and actions. Everything that is ultimately is interconnected and inextricable. Thus, the struggles, ambivalence and contradiction we experience in everday life are, in fact, the real image—the inherent nature of the human being.

“In matter of fact, the whole universe exists already in a diverse and varied multiplicity of states. Even if we were in an “enlightened” stage of development, our most precious creative conscience would be expressed in a multitude of facets. Informed by this understanding, I try to convey this multifarious nature of reality through my work. And still, I create “as through a glass darkly,” for I can’t paint what I’m not yet…..”

An interview Chris Backe did with Raul last year: http://www.chrisinsouthkorea.com/2010/07/interview-raul-pizarro/