Q: Let’s talk about you and your brother Rey Parlá. The two of you live and work together since young, even to this day. It is rather rare.
J: Yes, we have been living in Miami from a young age, and have pretty much remained together since. That was our street life, at the time when Miami was rough. There were severe problems with drugs, firearms, violence and race. It was when one would be on the street and suddenly found oneself in the middle of a trouble or two, one just learn to be tough. I used to draw all over the streets, and run away from such incidents. Not that it is always that easy, but we learnt to take care of each other. I was involved in an argument when I was fifteen, which led to a gun wound. I was nearly killed — luckily I made it to the hospital just in time. My brother was right there next to me and we have been through a lot together. Rey works as a director now. The New Grand Tour video was produced by Suitman Productions and my brother was one of the directors. It is a miracle that we are still working and creating on each other’s side. My ‘Brothers Back 2 Back’ is based on that period.

Q: The tone of ‘Brothers Back 2 Back’ leans towards the darker side. It portrays a different atmosphere and suggests something rather different from your personality and art work now.
J: We grew up in a family that lacks financial security, and our childhood in Miami was not easy. I think various of those issues transcend into the artistic vision as they naturally do. ‘Brothers Back 2 Back’ is about my brother and I having to have each other’s back constantly, living in such a condition and circumstance. Memory is a complex being, it is seldom clear cut — be it happy or sad. It is always a mix of conflicting emotions.

Q: Is that the kind of ‘segmented reality’ you always refer to?
J: Yes, I put my personal experience into my work. Therefore each of them embodies a story of mine. When I create, I put a fraction of my soul into the work, layer them on the surface and bury them deep inside the canvas, with codes and messages. Just like memories that intertwine and compress into each other in time, twisting time and space. Of course these ‘codes’ are in abstract form, that they are hardly placed with conscious, however true these feelings and experience are. When I draw, I get to a point when my mind is completely relaxed and my hands work in auto mode, as if my thoughts just flow through them naturally. I get to this state when I am too tired sometimes. I often surprised myself when I look at the work the following day, because I have no memory of it at all. It happened when I worked on the oversize ‘Automatic Practice of a Style Manuscript’.

Q: You mentioned that your work represents different levels of meaning, that sometimes it is more abstract. Does it concern you whether your audience understands your message?
J: Every artistic creation needs to be considered and digested by the audience, and that process completes the creation. For example, I am often inspired by walls in various cities, and attempt to re-create them with colours and textures. A wall could be in New York in my mind, but it could be in Hong Kong in yours. It could also be in Beijing, Tokyo, Paris or Berlin. The audience’s personal experience communicates with the work. This is how we connect through art, which is something much more important than whether or not the audience understand my intention or message.

Q: You have established your own set of language, with composition and colours. Abstract, yet bound to a system of some what.
J: A good friend of mine describes my work as ‘visual novel’, that I tell stories with colours and lines. It is similar to what you just said. Some sees my work as a form of calligraphy. I do not deny it as one of the inspirations, yet I consider my work in a different territory. You mentioned ‘segmented reality’ — my work exists in the connection with reality, memory and incidence. They cease to exist in a vacuum. When I pour myself over the colours and compositions, I am equally concerned the story they are telling.

Q: This is your debut exhibition in Hong Kong, with new work inspired by previous trips to Japan, London, Paris among others. Compare to your predecessors, the age of ‘easy jet’ travelling gives you a unique sense of modernity.
J: When I think of the development of fine art, like the Renaissance in 14th Century, Expressionism in 19th Century, Impressionism, Dadaism and Pop Art, each movement and period impacts on the development of the world. What sets us aside? When it comes to 21st Century, the world seems to expand and change in an overwhelming speed that defies previous proportion. Information bombardment is one example; another being the travel network nowadays, which allows us to travel the world in a fraction of what it used to cost. Compare to our ancestors, even to those born in the 1970s, we are the first generation to have this advantage. Experience from various cities gives me essential inspirations and ideas, which are then translated into a sense of modernity in my art.

Q: Let’s talk about the ‘June 13th’ project back in 2006. There was a great deal of response.
J: It was a truly interesting experience. Dr. Romanelli is an old friend of mine. He is well connected and has amazing creativity. We were both born on the same day, 13th of June; hence the idea of developing a project together. We met Visvim’s Hiroki Nakamura through Young Kim’s introduction. All three of us had fun working together and there were many positive feedbacks. Although we do not have any concrete plan right now, I would be happy to work with labels again, with the right timing.

Q: How do you feel about debuting in Hong Kong?
J: Hong Kong is a very special place, with so many elements squeezed in such a tiny space. There is a lot of energy here. For example, the gallery is such a quiet place, yet on the other side of the door sits the noisy market and the video game center. This can only exist in Hong Kong. I got up really early this morning and took a walk on Queen’s Road East. There were many old people sitting on the road, chatting away. Looking at this sight in the break of dawn, I feel a sense of ‘Zen’ washes over me. This city embodies multi-personality very well.

JOSÉ PARLÁ
joseparla.com

READING THROUGH SEEING EXHIBITION
14 May – 11 Jul 2009
Ooi Botos Gallery
5 Gresson St., Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
www.ooibotos.com