Oscar Figueroa

about the artist

Receive the Blue.

Accomplish the Blue.

Be suspended in the Blue.

Greet and be greeted by the Blue.

Carry the Blue.

Witness the Blue.

The Blue inhales and exhales: anything is Blue.

-  Oscar Figueroa, January 2020

Write An Artist Statement With The Word ‘Me’ Or ‘I’ In It, Or Both

Thank you for complimenting me: 

You like me, I like you.

Make me feel warm.

I choose to think coldly, I can use a microwave.

Let me put a band-aid on it. Fuck band-aids, let’s do it Old School. 

Have a speech impediment so people will talk to you less.

Cry at the sunset. Thank you for finishing my sentence. 

Have fun, let go.

let’s talk about

french kissing. 

The food fell to the floor:

 It’s important to listen to birds. 

Remain 

anonymous. Make a mess. 

Remind me of nothing.

There is such a thing as War-risk insurance.

Who could have predicted reality tv?

 * * * * *

What if instead of a logical artist statement we decided to write thoughts, or sentences, that go through our heads when making art. This is not poetry per se, this is a form of idea communication, just as the conventional artist statement was intended.

Oscar Figueroa, July 2016

We are delighted to present "Blue", Oscar Figueroa's fourth solo exhibition with Robert Kananaj Gallery. Figueroa’s art practice since the beginning is involved with the obvious. Observations appear as beginnings of unintended commitment: Neglected moments that everyone has, mundane yet genuine, invite transcendent experience.

The poetry of Oscar’s art practice is not for intellectual comfort, nor is it an attempt to compensate for anything. The artwork and the artist become the object, the witnessed moment, which in return invites curiosity that grows in the viewer beyond the artist's intent.

Oscar Figueroa (b. 1990, Hamilton, Ontario) currently lives and works in Toronto. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design University in 2013 with a BFA in Drawing & Painting, and a minor in English studies. He has exhibited solo and group shows in Toronto.