Born in Puerto Rico and based in Brooklyn, painter Angel Otero incorporates personal memories, photographs, and memorabilia into his semi-representational, process-based work. For his “flayed” paintings, Otero applies oil paint and fabric directly onto glass and, after the paint is almost dried, he scrapes the composition off, creating what he calls oil paint skins. These skins are collaged onto the canvas and reconfigure the original image, in this case, the suggestion of a bird’s plumage. Rare Birds prominently displays the wrinkles and cuts that are evidence of his process and the material qualities of the oil paint. Otero has exhibited internationally, and his work will be on view at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston at the end this year and at the Dallas Contemporary in 2017.
photo credit: martin parsekian