Trailer Park Proyects presents “Messengers” by Maja Ruznic

Trailer Park Proyects is proud to announce the first solo show of Bosnian-Born (1983) and San Francisco based artist Maja Ruznic. The individual show titled “Messengers” will open on August 9th at TPP home base in Rio Piedras, calle Balseiros #65 right in front of El Refugio at 6:00pm. The exhibition consists of a series of 10 paintings on paper which will range in between $225-$500. Ruznic got her MFA at California College of the Arts in 2009 and was featured in the cover of New American Paintings Magazine issue #97. Ruznic last exhibited with San Francisco based Michael Rosenthal Gallery at the collective show titled “Active”.

The paintings are records of people and events where every person and every event are important. As an observer, actor and a witness, Ruznic uses her painting as a medium to explore notions of intimacy and connectedness. Sometimes she is drawn to someone’s hands, to one’s rhythm of speech or to someone’s constant checking of their cell phone.

Relying on the memory of an experience, the artist paints what she remembers and also what is unknown to her. In the act of painting, the capricious nature of memory distorts the truth and the painting becomes something else—something in between the actual experience and her recollection of the event.

Nonetheless, the contemplation of the person or the event-- through the act of painting--is what is most important. In a world where nothing seems to last very long and more and more of our experiences are virtual, as an artist Ruznic is interested in the pyscho-physical relationship between those people she meet and herself. Painting serves as a platform to reflect and observe the nature of memory and its impact on the present.

If you would like to see more of Ruznic’s works you can visit her website www.ontheedgeofreason.com or if you want to see the works that will be exhibited in the Trailer go to our Facebook page and look in the photos album titled Maja Ruznic – Messengers.

Follow us on twitter @trailerparkproj and on instagram: TrailerParkProj for updates and location of the exhibition. To see all the works that will be exhibited at TPP please visit our Facebook page in the photo section search the folder named Maja Ruznic.

As usual we will visit the Universidad de Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras), Universidad del Sagrado Corazon in Santurce and the Escuela de Arte Plásticas in San Juan to show art students what is happening in the different art scenes around the world.

Tim Bergstrom - TPP 2012 Artist in Residence

We are proud to announce that New York based artist Tim Bergstrom has been selected as our first Resident Artist in our new program of International Artist Residency.

Bergstrom visited the Island for the first time when exhibiting at TPP last June 2012 his solo show “Imperfect Pearl”. His works were very well received and praised by local critics and collectors as well and TPP decided to award the first pilot residency program stay.

The artist in residency will receive a one month stay (August 1-30) in a rented 2 room house ($750), airfare ($500), personal expenses ($450) and art materials ($300). One of our sponsors has provided us with the money upfront which will be repaid with one of the created works of the artist while in his residency in Puerto Rico.

We are very excited to have such a talented artist as our first resident and we expect him to have the greatest time. We will post photos on the residency program page in our blog throughout his stay.

To veiw more of Tim's works visit his website www.timothybegrstrom.com

Interested artists in submitting for next year residency program please submit 3-5 images of your works and your website so we can start working on the 2013 resident artist selection. For mor information on the program and on the criteria, please go to the TPP Residency Program Page in our website.

TPP Limited Edition Silkscreen for the month of May – Ismo’s - Air Jordan-Ismo

This month TPP presents the new limited edition silkscreen print by world renown urban and graffiti artist Ismo. After blowing up the streets with his now infamous toaster and other tags of political and social content and mixing his works with the icons and images of pop culture, he has become one of the most important graffiti artists in the Island. 

Ismo which translates into Ism in English took his name from the suffix of the different movements of art hence Cubism, Modernism, Futurism and Minimalism among others with the intention of just creating his own art movement by simply using the suffix Ism.

In this work Ismo presents his newest appropriation of an iconic logo, which by intervening it he makes it his own and automatically becomes a work of art. As before him Richard Prince has done with his Marlboro cigarette ads and lately his edition of the classic American novel The Catcher in the Rye by JD Slazenger, Prince reprinted the novel exactly the same with the only difference that he printed the dust jacket with the name Richard Prince instead of the actual author. This will most definitively end up in court for copyright where Prince has already lost a battle, just as Shepard Fairey aka OBEY lost his battle with the HOPE poster from the Obama photograph from the Associated Press that ended up in a settlement.

In this print, Ismo has taken a logo similar to that of Air Jordan and he intervened it with his trademark 1950’s toaster in the hand of Jordan instead of the basketball that goes in that hand in the original logo. This is not the first time this well-known logo has been used in the art world as Hank William Thomas used this logo where he had the original logo and another logo jumping right behind it with a gun in place of the basketball. Since Michael Jordan is the most famous athlete in the World, artists in the urban scene and tend to use it because of the familiarity and power it has among the Afro-American demographics.

Throughout his career has appropriated logos of local companies and public figures such as Mama Aime, Don Cholito, Carlos Arroyo and other making his art appealing to a wider crowd of people who can understand his works because they feel familiarized with the theme as they will definitively feel familiarized with this print due to Puerto Rico’s heavy fan base of basketball and the appeal of this internationally known logo.

Ismo is a remarkable graphic artist whom instead of computers uses walls across the Island to show his works. His appropriations are necessary to help criticize local products and make art understandable and comfortable to regular Joe’s who would never actually step into a Museum. His work is necessary so everyone can enjoy art around the city. 

This image will be used in a mural in a non-profit community project this summer. We will post images of the process and document the creative process of the mural.

Remember only 50 signed and numbered just $50. Get yours today.

Sebastian Vallejo's "MarkMaking" opening night @ Galeria Yemaya's Parking Space

This past July 3rd. TPP presented in collaboration with Galeria Yemaya the new body of works of artist Sebastian Vallejo. A great crowd of collectors and friends passed by to say hi to Sebastian who came down for the exhibition's opeining night.

The response to Vallejo's new line of work was incredible and the news of his participation of his summer collective show at Lehman Maupin was really awesome. We will continue to support our young up and comming artists as we have alwats done and follow their career path.

Here are photos of the opeining night, hope you enjoy them...

Thank you all for coming down, See you at the next show in August.

Solo exhibition by Sebastian Vallejo - "MarkMaking: Sketches from Bushwick" at Galeria Yemaya

After obtaining his MFA at the Chicago Art Institute (SAIC) in 2009, Sebastian Vallejo (www.sebastianvallejo.com) moved to NYC where he is currently living and working. His last 2 solo exhibitions: “Lux” in 2010 at Lloyd Dobler Gallery (www.lloyddoblergallery.com) in Chicago and most recently “Methodic Chaos” at AREAMETRO in Puerto Rico. He is regarded as one of Puerto Rico’s most promising young artists. Vallejo also announce that he will be participating in the summer show of World renown Gallery Lehman Maupin which currently represents Angel Otero, Tracy Emin and other elite artists.

The exhibition titled “MarkMaking: Sketeches from Bushwick”, Vallejo presents 25 mixed media works on paper created at his new studio in Bushwick, NY. Drawings will be approximately 19”x 24” and will start at $225 each. The title “MarkMaking” comes from the necessity of the human race to document its cultures existence trough by leaving marks where they once inhabited. From the caves at Altamira to Pollock to Urban Graffiti Tagging most recently, drawing have been used throughout history to mark the path of this species or culture.

Make sure to visit the exhibition, check our Exhibition Calendar or contact us for information and appointments. Exhibition will run from July 3^rd – July 31^st. The opening will be held on Tuesday July the 3^rd. at Galeria Yemaya located in the Avenida Andalucía at 7:30pm. Galeria Yemaya will also be opening its doors with their current exhibition, collective show “12x12”.

Vallejo will be at the opening so come and see two great shows in one day while having a chance of meeting the artist.

Here are some of the drawings that will be exhibited at the show. Go to our Facebook page to see all 20 drawings and get yours before its too late.

“The End of the Road” by Nelson “NEL” Figueroa, TPP April 2012 Limited Edition Print

It's finally here, hot of the printing studio April’s (Yes we are still behind schedule) limited edition silkscreen by artist Nelson “NEL” Figueroa.

The print is titled “The End of the Road” from his 2011 exhibition Childhood Files. This is a beautiful work that captures some of the problems and situations we are facing in the world daily literally and metaphorically. By literal I mean the visual meaning the print has regarding the global warming problem and how what human beings are doing is affecting other part of the world that most of us are unaware or have no way of solving. Here we can see a lonely polar bear which has drifted away in a glacier that got separated form a bigger chunk of Glacier and has now its protagonist stranded alone where he will be facing certain death. When this happens to polar bears they die because they can’t swim back to shore and drown trying or because they starve to death.

The metaphoric meaning is the individualism each men has on Its own only thinking for what’s good for them and not the world. Facing the world alone and Isolated as we once read in the book Insularismo by Antonio S. Pedreira. It’s a call to action so we can see we are doing it the wrong way and a form to make us visualize we must works as a unit or team to fix all the things we have wronged as individuals and as a the human race. It is a really simple but deep painting that shows the artists thoughts on the different things that are going on in his life as well as the world.

Nelson “NEL” Figueroa whom is known for his expressionist naïve paintings and drawings, will be beginning his MFA at Brooklyn College this next August and this painting might also be an indication of him moving to the USA and himself being the bear slowly moving along to an unknown destiny up North in the cold.

You can also read the piece as a political statement where the government knows what is happening and they just let it happen because of the monetary implications fixing the problem has and they just go on ignoring it just like education and peace. Fixing the problem means sanctions, fines and regulation laws against the very people who give them money to their political campaigns and give money to the law makers under the table so the laws don’t pass.  It is more profitable being at war and having uneducated people than it is to do the correct thing and educate people so they are aware and be more careful with their action.

The original painting is now part of the Museo de Arte e Historia de Arecibo as it was a partial donation from Puerto Rico Fine Arts, the artist’s Gallery and young collectors and art scene supporters Dr. Rolando Jimenez and Edna Colon.

Tim Bergstrom's Imperfect Pearl Exhibition opening and Trailer Park Proyects 1st Aniversary party

This past June the 2nd in what marked our 1st year Aniversary as a Gallery Space, Trailer Park Proyects celebrated by throwing a big opening exhibition party and flew exhibiting artist Tim Bergstrom to present his solo exhibition Imprefect Pearl.

We parked the trailer in the driveway of Roberto Paradise Gallery located in Santurce. Free beer and Rum was handed out throughout the night and we had a great great time which concluded in our visiting artist missing his flight and just 8 hours of sleep in 80 hours.

Artist Tim Bergstrom with young collector Carlos Morales

At the bar early in the night

Tito Rovira, Abdiel Segarra and Jorge Gonzalez

It was a great honor showing Tim's work at the show and better yet everybody loving the work. We will coordinate a show for next year where we will hopefully show bigger scale paintings and drawings. Tim is deffinitively a rising star and we have demonstrated here in Puerto Rico that we will keep supporting his career as it progresses.

We want to thank everyone who has ever supported our project and all the artists for letting us have the privilege of showing their artwork. Sponsors: Puerto Rico Fine Arts Gallery, Chocolate Cortes, Benjamin Moore Paints, Collectors John Belk, Ignacio Cortes, Jose Hernandez Castrodad, Otto Reyes, Rolando Jimenez, Waldemar Fabery, Jaime Oller, Carlos Morales, Rafael Disdier, Ishi Rodriguez, Lee Cardona, Ingrid Colberg, Pancho Martinez, Rafael Tamayo, Johanna Estrella, Johan Vazquez, Erika Medina, Bryan Torres, Antonio Castro and all that have made this possible. Hope I can keep helping you guys buy great works from great artists and developing your collections.

Thanks to El Vocero and Johan Maldonado for publishing our press releases and Luis Trelles of El Nuevo Dia for following our progress and publishing some great press for us. Revista Latina American Art for helping out the younger artist and supporting thier works. Also Rafa from Radio Universidad for his everlasting support to our projects and to the art scene. Critic Pedro Velez for his support and webmagazines Conboca and Trance Liquido.

Here we come year 2. TPP will keep bringing local and international artist with top of the line contemporary art at affordable prices for anyone.

Thanks for the support.

TPP Crew