Two years ago, when José Lopez Vergara’s son was born, the painter had that moment that many fathers have as they hold their tiny newborn children in their arms. It was that feeling of dread about the world this new person will inhabit, and how will he as a parent protect this innocent baby.
Mother, oil on canvas, 39½ x 29 in.
Vergara took that fear and trepidation and put it in his painting Mother, which shows a woman holding a newborn baby as a wolf-like creature hovers over her shoulder. The painting explicitly invokes the Madonna. It is also imbued with danger and anxiety, and yet there is love and calm within the cocoon-like embrace between mother and child. “That’s my wife and my son when he was three months old. When he was born, I was super protective. He came into the world and everything changed,” Vergara says. “This was a thing I needed to express about protection. The beast in the painting is very scary and very dangerous. And because of that you need an aggressive protector. It’s about the beast and the mother, but it’s also about life itself.”
The Vendor of Masks, oil on canvas, 40 x 50½ in.
Vergara lives in a small mountain town near Madrid, Spain, where his grandfather was born before emigrating to Mexico, where Vergara was born. His family has been on his mind as he creates work for his upcoming show at Arcadia Contemporary in New York City. The show, which will have around 10 new works, opens November 13. “It’s hard to let go of some of these paintings because they are about my family. There is a part of me that wants to keep them forever,” he says. “But there is also a part of me that is ready to let them go and be in the world.”
Relic, oil on canvas, 16 x 13½ in.
For his newest show, Vergara paints cultures from all around the world—from Spain, Mexico and Greece to Africa and Asia. “I tried to incorporate every culture into one mythological race of people. They embody all of humanity into one culture, but all mixed together,” the artist says. He points to his painting The Vendor of Masks, which shows an old man sitting in front of a display of masks from all around the world. “The man is Russian with blue eyes, but the hat and earrings and jewelry come from other cultures. I want people to understand they have all ended up in the same place from many different starting points.”
Armory, oil on canvas, 14 x 31½ in.
The artist is being more careful with what he paints these days, mostly because he’s aware that the greatest currency in the world is time. “I’m evolving. I think the mentality changed when my son was born. I gave more importance to the quality of the work. There is always a push to do more, more, more. But I want to make art that is worth looking at. I don’t want to paint for the sake of painting. I don’t want to lose myself in this world of chasing the next sale. That way of thinking can make very cheap ideas. They may be beautiful and may sell, but it can be a very easy trap to fall into as a painter.”
Vergara has made the most of his time by creating personal, heartfelt paintings that reveal his masterful ability to capture light, emotion and his unique understanding of the world and its diverse inhabitants. Time, he says, is not being wasted. “Every painting matters,” he adds.
Omen, oil on canvas, 18½ x 24½ in.
Other works in the show include Armory, showing a young girl asleep at a desk with various objects around her, including a knife, a small statue and a carved box; Relic, which features a woman wearing a large headpiece common in some Indigenous cultures of South America and Central America; and Omen, this one featuring a woman wearing the same headpiece but also wearing a dress similar to a traditional kimono worn in Japan. Vergara’s blending of cultures and clothing supports a vision of a universal culture. “Everyone can be part of it,” he says.
The show hangs through December 7. —
Arcadia Contemporary 421 W. Broadway New York, NY 10012 • (646) 861-3941 www.arcadiacontemporary.com
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