Manuel Ocampo at West Gallery

BOYCOTTER OF BEAUTY AND THE THEORETICAL STEROID DEFILED MODERNIST CHICKEN

West Gallery, February 8

Manuel Ocampo describes himself as an artist pretending to be a painter, always seeing himself as a novice, learning and picking up ideas from fellow artists. Such is his latest exhibit at West Gallery, titled Boycotter of Beauty and the Theoretical Steroid Defiled Modernist Chicken, which is largely inspired by the French artist and poet Francis Picabia’s collection of writings, I Am a Beautiful Monster. He didn’t have one style, Ocampo says, discussing Picabia, who was part of the avant-garde movement of his time, yet denounced the movement’s principles as well (-Excerpt from West Gallery website) . Read here about the exhibition.

Complementing his one-man exhibit are collaborative works with younger artists with whom he has worked when he was a curator at an exhibit held last November.

“We are our own audience,” says Ocampo, on his collaborative ventures. He does not mind sharing gallery space with up-and-coming artists, and embraces the consensus of what everybody sees as art. He continually encourages them to keep working on their craft. Using cardboard and hardware store paints, Ocampo believes one should not dwell on how expensive art materials are to “paint with abandon.”

(more photos on next post)