José Parlá – It’s Yours

A Master Of Street Art Does The Bronx

image above: José Parlá at the Bronx museum of art; cover story image: José Parlá detail 149th street and Grand Concourse

BY: Rosa Sanchez

Raised by Cuban parents in Miami and educated in the streets of the Bronx, José Parlá, 47, is one of the young creatives shaping New York street art today. His multimedia work is often classified as graffiti, or abstract contemporary painting, but he likes to think of it as “the texture of memory.”

“To call what we do graffiti is to call a comet a meteorite,” he tells PROVOKR.

Every one of his pieces is made up of vibrant paint splashes, strokes and energetic lines. Each is wildly different, and each has both a level of experimentation and a solid concept. There is also a heavy physical element to his art, as the painter does a somewhat acrobatic dance in front of each canvas. With a marker or brush in hand, he jumps off ladders, stretches his arms, twists and turns, sways with the hues.

Speaking of his art in a mini-documentary for ISTANBUL’74 — an arts and culture platform — Parlá says that the inspiration behind his paintings comes from his travels, and from the connection he feels to humanity by looking at walls all around the world. Seeing what is being written, scribbled and drawn on these walls, he says, gives him a visual representation of “today’s hieroglyphics.”

Throughout his 20 years in New York, he’s been exploring these walls and their language. In them, he’s found a sense of community, and a flow of colors, textures and langues, which he says represents the way in which people from different backgrounds eventually unite. As communities everywhere struggle to survive through the coronavirus pandemic, this message could not be more important.

For the first time, Parlá’s work is being exhibited at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, a New York gem that was originally opened to try to stir interest in the arts within the borough, which is known for its culturally diverse population. Due to its location, the museum has gained less popularity among tourists, though art aficionados and locals have long praised it for its inclusive expos and support for Latino and African American artists. The exhibition — curated by Manon Slome, who has worked with the artist for over 15 years — is called José Parlá: It’s Yours, and promises to show a visual representation of Parlá’s travels, Cuban roots, and the hip hop energy that’s influenced his vision throughout his time in the Bronx. It will be open to the public until August 16, 2020. Though The Bronx Museum of the Arts is currently closed due to the coronavirus crisis, we hope this story and Parlá’s artwork will inspire you to visit the exhibition once it reopens.

A program for students, artists, locals and families will be developed alongside the exhibition “to reflect the rich cultural diversity of the Bronx and its many influences on Parlá’s work,” the museum website states, adding that Parlá “will also work with the museum’s after school programs to develop a mural on a plot adjacent to the museum.” http://m.bronxmuseum.org/exhibitions/jose-parla-itand39s-yours

In his documentary, Parlá says his current pieces explore more than just cities he likes, the intertwined images on his canvases talk about his past, his present and his future, both as a traveler of the world and as an impassioned New Yorker.