Bio

Nery Gabriel Lemus (b. 1977 Los Angeles) explores the politics of difference and representation through works in a wide range of mediums. His graphic mural Until the Day Breaks and Shadows Flee #2 depicts scenes centered on the theme of domestic violence. To create the mural, Lemus selected material from colorful pocket-size Mexican graphic novels and translated it into oversize sepia-toned images. By removing the text from the images and leaving the dialogue bubbles empty, Lemus puts forth narratives capable of taking on distinct meanings for viewers. Placed at the entrance to the gallery is a site-specific large-scale Guatemalan carpet, or alfombra, made from dyed sawdust. Alfombras are traditionally made for Holy Week, and Lemus’s version incorporates his own pattern work and imagery reminiscent of his graphic murals. Taken together, the mural and the alfombra generate a dialogue between the issue of domestic violence and the elements of transition, change, and healing associated with the processions for which the alfombras are created.