The Day You Arrived // Carlos Don Juan

Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow is proud to be the first art gallery to showcase the works of Carlos Donjuan in a solo exhibition in California. A broad selection of Donjuan’s watercolor and acrylic paintings and drawings will be on view August 7-31, 2014, with a reception on Aug. 7, Laguna Beach First Thursday Art Walk, from 6 to 9pm.

The works, in watercolor and acrylic on Arches paper and Birch wood, aim to define Donjuan’s perception of illegal aliens, a concept that has been with him since his childhood move from San Luis, Mexico to Dallas, Texas — where he lives and works today, now raising a son of his own. Donjuan states that attempting to grasp the term “illegal alien” as a child was one of his first creative realizations: “I always wondered what everyone was talking about, imaging weird creatures in my head…I wanted to meet one and to know what they looked like.” Revisiting his childhood curiosity, he asks: what do illegal aliens look like? He paints masked figures, hybrid animal people, pyramids and blob creatures that together create a dialogue of about the journey they have embarked on in search of a better life.  His choice of medium also comes from his early days as a painter: “I am big fan of watercolor and the layering process that it involves. It’s a medium that was introduced to me as a kid in high school and it just always stuck with me, even after college.”

Donjuan’s first California solo show comes at an exciting time when the artist is the midst of back-to-back banner years, personally and professionally. In 2013, he was featured in a 6-page article in the April issue of Juxtapoz Magazine, and his work appeared on the cover of New American Paintings as a featured artist and Artist of the Year. “Carlos Daniel Donjuan’s paintings evince both the raw energy of his street art beginnings and the refinement of his academic training. The combination is potent,” wrote the magazine, noting Donjuan’s notable reach as an active graffiti artist and art professor. His first public art project came to fruition last year, a large mural on Dallas’ Jefferson Viaduct, made possible due to a large grant awarded from the city. This year, his work has really begun to travel the globe: first in February as a solo exhibition with Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea in Milan, Italy, and recently as part of the Cheech Marin Collection, the largest private collection of Chicano Art in the world, which last month exhibited in Bordeaux, France. Donjuan’s rise and success in art hardly compares to his favorite personal achievement: “The birth of my son has been the biggest change in my life and career. I have never been so focused and driven as I have been since he became a part of my life. I have stayed busy in hopes that I can build something for him.”

Carlos Donjuan is among a curated platform of ascending artists that Artists Republic 4 Tomorrow and Vans have committed in collaboration to bring to southern California in 2014.