St Giles
St Giles
Signed Print
José Parlá
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55 x 95cm, Edition of 100, Giclée print
Medium: Giclée print
Edition size: 100
Year: 2009
Size: H 55cm x W 95cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
Last Auction: January 2020
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Meaning & Analysis
St Giles (2009) by José Parlá is a signed giclée print representing the artist’s penchant for monumental abstractions. Released in an edition of 100, St Giles is one in a series of three limited edition prints including The World Touring Letter and One Eighty Fourth Street. Featuring a torrent of densely accumulated white lines against a dark background, the work claims its roots in Abstract Expressionism while also sharing affinity with the world of Street Art. The dominant presence of rounded forms and fluid lines, both at the centre and bottom of the print, evokes the desire for artistic freedom that informed the aesthetics of the world's famous graffiti artists.
The print captures Parlá’s complex identity as an artist immersed in the underground art scenes of Miami, as well as the multicultural environments of New York, London, and Havana. Similarly to Pebalber And Belasquian, Havana (2006) and Babylon Can Have Pastel Colored Walls (2012), the surface scrawled with free-flowing lines in this print brings to mind the ancient walls containing some of the earliest evidence of the human desire to leave a lasting trace, one that could serve as a support for the memory of future generations. The artist commented in this context: "I’m really interested in the way our lives are built up out of memory and history, and how we reflect that in our surroundings."
José Parlá, born in 1973, is best known for his graffiti-inspired abstract expressionist aesthetic. The artist's work is a dynamic interplay of key moments in Contemporary art history, with his his layered compositions revealing a dialogue between memory, identity, and the urban landscape. Parlá's experimental creative process and vibrancy of his expressive strokes have been likened to those of Gerhard Richter, Jackson Pollock and even Diego Rivera. In addition to his career as a visual artist, Parlá achieved critical acclaim in 2013 for his co-direction of the documentary film, Wrinkles Of The City: Havana, which accompanied his work at the Havana Biennale.
