Press Release: John Hernandez

New Works: 00.4
12.14.00

John Hernandez was born in 1952 in San Antonio, where he currently lives and
works. He received his M.F.A. from the University of North Texas, Denton, after
studying at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. The recipient of fellowships
from the National Endowment for the Arts (1989) and the Mid-America Arts Alliance
(1988), he has exhibited his work throughout Texas, the U.S., and Europe. Solo
exhibitions include DW Gallery, Dallas (1983, 1985, 1988); Moody Gallery, Houston
(1984, 1985, 1987, 1992); Plus-Kern Gallery, Brussels (1989); Dallas Museum of Art
(1992); Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX (1994); Otto Schweins Gallery, Koln, Germany
(1994); Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio (1996); Sculpture Center, New York (1998,
with Kaleta Doolin); Dallas Visual Art Center (1998) and Sala Diaz, San Antonio (1999).
In 1988, his work was included in Contemporary Art From Texas at the Groninger
Museum, The Netherlands.

Drawing on popular culture, John Hernandez's paintings and sculptures seem caught
in a psychedelic moment. His dynamic polychrome forms confront the viewer with
familiar yet fragmented forms: a virus, a cartoon figure, a carnival.

John Hernandez was selected for his ArtPace residency by the March 1998 panel
consisting of Dan Cameron, Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, Amada Cruz, Kellie Jones, Hans-
Ulrich Obrist, and Nancy Rubins.

A mix of sculpture, painting, and cartoon, John Hernandez's work is a dynamic
journey into the artist's singular view of the world around him. At ArtPace, he presents
several intricate new works, all dizzying combinations of images from popular culture,
science fiction, and biotechnology.

In the center of the room is Lovecraft, a large-scale model of a phage virus that
injects DNA into bacteria. Looking like an alien spacecraft, it is covered with ornate
layers of cartoons. With spider-like legs, it appears to be spinning out of control, yet it is
still, allowing the viewer to take in its detailed imagery.

Beyond it is an exaggerated hot-rod flame painted directly on the wall, which is next
to a large cut-out painting on plywood. DUH! is a blown up word, based on a decal one
would find on a teenager's notebook or on the back of a car window. Iconographic and
humorous, it taunts the viewer with a rhetorical answer.

Cartoon imagery and popular culture also collide in Jerry's Kids, one of Hernandez's
largest constructions to date. In it, multiple figures metamorphosize into a one-eyed,
monster-like form, connected by a swirling line of fire. Even the most innocent, well-
intentioned events?ry Lewis' annual telethon? turned upside-down in
Hernandez's world.

Humor and playfulness are the immediate hallmarks of Hernandez's work. A second
look affords a darker view. Beginning with seemingly innocent sources for his imagery,
specifically children's cartoons, Hernandez brings out the grotesque in his baroque
reformulation of popular culture. Drawing on science and science fiction, Hernandez
crafts a new vocabulary, where familiar images are simultaneously mutilated and
beautified?ransformation the artist describes as "mutafication."

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org