José Parlá Cuban American, b. 1973
Ciclos: A Presence of Nature, 2024
Acrylic and oil paint on canvas
121.9 x 213.4 cm. (48 x 84 in.)
Copyright The Artist
Further images
Description (Specific) : José Parlá’s Ciclos: Luminalscape and Ciclos: A Presence of Nature (2024) belong to the artist’s latest body of work, Ciclos: Blossoms of Mold, an extension of the...
Description (Specific) : José Parlá’s Ciclos: Luminalscape and Ciclos: A Presence of Nature (2024) belong to the artist’s latest body of work, Ciclos: Blossoms of Mold, an extension of the Ciclos series featured in Four Artists, Four Walls at the Brooklyn Museum. These commanding compositions evoke abstracted landscapes with a visceral horizon line, richly textured with impasto and incised calligraphic gestures. Inspired by Parlá’s near-fatal battle with COVID-19, these paintings reflect themes of survival and interconnectedness, drawing on the intricate networks of mycelium and the mysterious spread of Candida auris, which occupied his thoughts during recovery. They continue the artist’s dialogue on memory, decay, and regeneration.
Ciclos: A Presence of Nature stands as an arresting testament to the raw beauty found within urban decay, rebirth, and human resilience. With the grit and texture of city landscapes as his muse, Parlá layers paint upon canvas, carving intricate marks and symbols that dance across the surface like fireworks in an urban night sky. These gestures are not just artistic flourishes; they are the artist’s coded script, narrating tales of survival and transformation.
Parlá’s journey is deeply personal. Born in working-class neighbourhoods of Miami and Puerto Rico, he developed an early affinity for the city’s architectural and cultural texture. Yet it was during a harrowing experience in 2021, while installing his exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, that Parlá’s artistic vision underwent a profound shift. Contracting the Delta variant of COVID-19, he entered a medically induced coma, isolated not only by the virus but by an additional threat – a rare and deadly fungus, Candida auris, spreading in hospitals at the time. Within the depths of this life-altering period, he encountered vivid, phosphene-like visions – ethereal portals through which light appeared to move, binding places and experiences in his dream state.
These visions became the foundation of his series, which he began creating even from his hospital bed. Reflecting on the works, Parlá shared: “I managed to paint a series of works on paper in the hospital, which later served as studies for my larger-scale Ciclos: Blossoms of Mold paintings. These landscapes became a cycle of thoughts and therapeutic actions that helped me return to life.” Each work is imbued with a layer of storytelling, the canvases forming a patchwork of his personal and artistic resurrection amidst a global crisis.
Parlá’s textured, gestural surfaces go beyond the aesthetic; they delve into a universal language, inspired by the subterranean communication networks of fungi. Drawing on Peter Wohlleben’s concept of the “Wood Wide Web,” Parlá reflects on the interconnectivity of all life forms, symbolised in his work by abstracted, mycelium-like formations. This network, existing beneath the earth and nourishing life above, becomes a metaphor for art’s power to connect people, bridging divides of culture and ideology.
The title Ciclos, or “Cycles,” echoes his father’s profound wisdom: “Life cycles, son, life cycles. Ciclos is everything!” This series captures the inevitable flow of life, the natural rhythm of decay and renewal, reaching outward, flourishing, and collapsing in an eternal dance. Through these paintings, Parlá offers a poetic tribute to the human spirit, where every brushstroke speaks to the resilience, connectivity, and cyclical beauty of life itself.
Description (General) : Ciclos: Blooms of Mold was inspired by the period after José Parlá awoke from his coma induced during his battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia. When he came to, he had lost 70 pounds but was inspired to use his experience as a means to both recover and understand life, having almost lost it. To encourage his convalescence, his brother, Rey Parlá, stuck blank pieces of paper to the wall. José would have to stand up and walk over, which took great effort considering his weak physical condition. When he went to use watercolours, the doctor would support his hand so he could paint. However, the force driving Parlá to paint was stronger than that of his illness. Bursting with questions yet still so close to death, he wanted to know “Why am I alive?”
When he was younger his father always told him and his brother that life is a cycle. With Parlá’s fantastical coma dreams and challenging recovery, he started thinking about growth and decay. Networks of all kinds fascinated him, from mycelium connecting to trees and plants to each other, to communal networks; his loved ones who helped him emerge from the void. Mold is emblematic of resilience and organic transformation; it is triggered by and aids in decomposition to create conditions that help other organisms to grow. The energetic networks that take place beneath the surface during this process are clearly demarcated by Parlá’s bold horizon lines, separating bright, celestial colours from the rich browns of the earth. In both hemispheres lines of paint overlap and intersect in an explosion of connectivity, denoting a recuperating life force.
Parlá’s new subject brought with it a progression in technique. Having to relearn how to hold a brush and with a new outlook on life, his painting style becomes bolder. He uses thick impasto to mimic organic forms, their far-reaching tips echoing fungal growth. However, being an artist of the city and streets, his surfaces still have a quality of urban erosion and weathered facades. The series reflects Parlá’s engagement with impermanence, transformation and survival, deeply informed by his personal recovery.
Ciclos: A Presence of Nature stands as an arresting testament to the raw beauty found within urban decay, rebirth, and human resilience. With the grit and texture of city landscapes as his muse, Parlá layers paint upon canvas, carving intricate marks and symbols that dance across the surface like fireworks in an urban night sky. These gestures are not just artistic flourishes; they are the artist’s coded script, narrating tales of survival and transformation.
Parlá’s journey is deeply personal. Born in working-class neighbourhoods of Miami and Puerto Rico, he developed an early affinity for the city’s architectural and cultural texture. Yet it was during a harrowing experience in 2021, while installing his exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, that Parlá’s artistic vision underwent a profound shift. Contracting the Delta variant of COVID-19, he entered a medically induced coma, isolated not only by the virus but by an additional threat – a rare and deadly fungus, Candida auris, spreading in hospitals at the time. Within the depths of this life-altering period, he encountered vivid, phosphene-like visions – ethereal portals through which light appeared to move, binding places and experiences in his dream state.
These visions became the foundation of his series, which he began creating even from his hospital bed. Reflecting on the works, Parlá shared: “I managed to paint a series of works on paper in the hospital, which later served as studies for my larger-scale Ciclos: Blossoms of Mold paintings. These landscapes became a cycle of thoughts and therapeutic actions that helped me return to life.” Each work is imbued with a layer of storytelling, the canvases forming a patchwork of his personal and artistic resurrection amidst a global crisis.
Parlá’s textured, gestural surfaces go beyond the aesthetic; they delve into a universal language, inspired by the subterranean communication networks of fungi. Drawing on Peter Wohlleben’s concept of the “Wood Wide Web,” Parlá reflects on the interconnectivity of all life forms, symbolised in his work by abstracted, mycelium-like formations. This network, existing beneath the earth and nourishing life above, becomes a metaphor for art’s power to connect people, bridging divides of culture and ideology.
The title Ciclos, or “Cycles,” echoes his father’s profound wisdom: “Life cycles, son, life cycles. Ciclos is everything!” This series captures the inevitable flow of life, the natural rhythm of decay and renewal, reaching outward, flourishing, and collapsing in an eternal dance. Through these paintings, Parlá offers a poetic tribute to the human spirit, where every brushstroke speaks to the resilience, connectivity, and cyclical beauty of life itself.
Description (General) : Ciclos: Blooms of Mold was inspired by the period after José Parlá awoke from his coma induced during his battle with COVID-19 and pneumonia. When he came to, he had lost 70 pounds but was inspired to use his experience as a means to both recover and understand life, having almost lost it. To encourage his convalescence, his brother, Rey Parlá, stuck blank pieces of paper to the wall. José would have to stand up and walk over, which took great effort considering his weak physical condition. When he went to use watercolours, the doctor would support his hand so he could paint. However, the force driving Parlá to paint was stronger than that of his illness. Bursting with questions yet still so close to death, he wanted to know “Why am I alive?”
When he was younger his father always told him and his brother that life is a cycle. With Parlá’s fantastical coma dreams and challenging recovery, he started thinking about growth and decay. Networks of all kinds fascinated him, from mycelium connecting to trees and plants to each other, to communal networks; his loved ones who helped him emerge from the void. Mold is emblematic of resilience and organic transformation; it is triggered by and aids in decomposition to create conditions that help other organisms to grow. The energetic networks that take place beneath the surface during this process are clearly demarcated by Parlá’s bold horizon lines, separating bright, celestial colours from the rich browns of the earth. In both hemispheres lines of paint overlap and intersect in an explosion of connectivity, denoting a recuperating life force.
Parlá’s new subject brought with it a progression in technique. Having to relearn how to hold a brush and with a new outlook on life, his painting style becomes bolder. He uses thick impasto to mimic organic forms, their far-reaching tips echoing fungal growth. However, being an artist of the city and streets, his surfaces still have a quality of urban erosion and weathered facades. The series reflects Parlá’s engagement with impermanence, transformation and survival, deeply informed by his personal recovery.