Busacca Gallery

Crown of Creation by Alex Chavez is a smaller (16x20 inch) Hand Embellished canvas print. This particular piece is an artist proof one of the first ever made and the only one at this size. I create these outside of the normal micro limited edition of 6. Artist Proofs are preliminary works that lead up to the larger canvases. All included micro edition and artists proofs together no more that 10 pieces will every be made. Each one uniquely hand embellished by me, the artist. I create my images by cutting, pasting, altering and recombining old paintings into mash-ups. Creating fantastic images of new myths, icons, saints and sinners, gods and goddesses for our modern times. They are composed as digital photomontage on stretched canvas. Then each image is hand embellished by the artist using acrylic paint, gold leaf, and traditional collage methods becoming unique, individual mixed media works of art. Each image is limited to only 6 canvases. I produce 10 to 12 images per year and they are available in the following editions: The Original 30x40 inch Canvas. Heavily Embellished by the artist using a variety of different paints, and traditional collage methods. Making this a unique One-of-a-Kind item. Only one of this quality & size is available. In addition to the original a micro edition of five 18x24 inch canvases are available. These are retouched by the artist himself with acrylic paint and corrected to his standards. A graduate of fine arts from California State University Fullerton, I've painted for most of my career. Using acrylic and watercolor to paint portraits and murals. Shortly after moving to Taos, New Mexico in 1997 I started working in collage and mixed media to accurately describe what I saw in my minds eye. My images are "Mash-ups". By recombining, cutting, pasting, and altering my images to create new myths, icons, saints and sinners, gods and goddesses for these modern times. Producing hand embellish limited editions on stretched canvas. Using acrylic paint, gold leaf, and traditional collage methods to create unique, fantastic individual works of art. Exhibitions National Look at the Day of the Dead - Self Help Graphics Los Angeles CA 1996 Taught Retablo Painting Workshop - Millicent Rogers Museum Taos, NM 1997 Visions of the Virgin - Big Sun Gallery Taos, NM 1998 La Santa Cruz - Big Sun Gallery Taos, NM 1998 Mother Father Child - Big Sun Gallery Taos, NM 1998 Santo's y Diablos Show - Stables Gallery 1999 Works on Paper - Stables Gallery 1999 The Best of Taos: No Boundaries, No Barriers - Taos, NM 2000 Intermediate 2001 - Santa Fe New Mexico 2001 Fall Arts Festival - Taos, NM 2003 First Annual Taos Digital Art Show - Taos NM 2007 University of Nebraska - Digital Art Show - 2007 New Mex - Now Mix, National Hispanic Cultural Center - Albuquerque, NM 2008 Beauty Inside - Surrealist Show, 105 Studios Downtown Albuquerque 2008 Arte de los Muertos - Bernallio, NM 2009 Taos Invites Taos - Taos, NM - 2009 Saints & Sinners - Kimo Gallery - Albuquerque, NM 2009 Go downtown Contemporary Arts Festival - Albuquerque, NM 2003-2009 Annual Contemporary Hispanic Market - Santa Fe NM 2004-2009 Scary a group show at the Jennie Cooley Gallery Santa Fe, NM 2009 The Dark Side group show 105 Studios Albuquerque, NM Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, international "Top 40" show, 2010 Artaq the first International Competition of Urban Artists (Traveling Exhibit) Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Lyons 2010-11 & 2011-12 Emerging Artist - Limner Gallery Hudson, New York 2011 Recombinant ART - A Solo Exhibit at the 105 Art Gallery Albuquerque, NM 2011 Awards Award of Merit, Illustrator West 20 - Los Angeles CA 1992 Honorable Mention, Albuquerque State Fair 1997 Best of Show, Taos County Fair 1998 Macworld National Tour of 12 Digital Artist 1999 Best of Digital Art, Contemporary Hispanic Market - Santa Fe NM 2004 Best of Digital/Photography, Contemporary Hispanic Market - Santa Fe NM 2005 Publications Illustrator West 20 1992 Tempo Taos New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 1998 Macworld Digital Artist Compendium 1999 Tempo Taos New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 1999 Popular Photography Digital Imaging Guide 2002 Albuquerque Alibi Weekly Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2002 Tempo Taos New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2002 ABQarts Albuquerque Monthly Magazine of the Arts 2003 Pasatiempo Santa Fe New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2005 Tempo Taos New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2005 Pasatiempo Santa Fe New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2009 IQ Albuquerque Weekly of the Arts & Entertainment` 2009 Pasatiempo Santa Fe New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2010 Tempo Taos New Mexico Arts & Entertainment Magazine 2010 ARTAQ Bookzine 2010 Books “Newicons” self published book of 13 images and text by the artist. “Saints and Sinners” self published mini portfolio of 18 images. "Santero" The Recombinant Art of Alex Chavez Public Engagements Regular guest speaker, Art History Class, the University of New Mexico -Taos Acquisitions Museum of International Folk Art, Contemporary Latino Collection. Santa Fe, NM National Hispanic Cultural Center, Permanent Collection - Albuquerque , NM Production Set of "Breaking Bad" an original AMC television series

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_media

There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct visual art media. For example, a work on canvas that combines paint, ink, and collage could properly be called a "mixed media" work - but not a work of "multimedia art."



The term multimedia art implies a broader scope than mixed media, combining visual art with non-visual elements (such as recorded sound, for example) or with elements of the other arts (such as literature, drama, dance, motion graphics, music, or interactivity).



Collage made from photographs, or parts of photographs, is called photomontage. Photomontage is the process (and result) of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining a number of other photographs. The composite picture was sometimes photographed so that the final image is converted back into a seamless photographic print. The same method is accomplished today using image-editing software. The technique is referred to by professionals as compositing.



One of the earliest works to be considered Pop Art,

"Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" was created in 1956 for the catalogue of the This Is Tomorrow exhibition in London, England in which it was reproduced in black and white. In addition, the piece was used in posters for the exhibit Richard Hamilton has subsequently created several works in which he reworked the subject and composition of the pop art collage, including a 1992 version featuring a female bodybuilder. Many artists have created derivative works of Hamilton's collage. P. C. Helm made a year 2000 interpretation.



Other methods for combining pictures are also called photomontage, such as Victorian "combination printing", the printing from more than one negative on a single piece of printing paper (e.g. O. G. Rejlander, 1857), front-projection and computer montage techniques. Much as a collage is composed of multiple facets, artists also combine montage techniques. Romare Bearden’s (1912–1988) series of black and white "photomontage projections" is an example. His method began with compositions of paper, paint, and photographs put on boards. Bearden fixed the imagery with an emulsion that he then applied with handroller. Subsequently, he enlarged the collages photographically.



The 19th century tradition of physically joining multiple images into a composite and photographing the results prevailed in press photography and offset lithography until the widespread use of digital image editing. Contemporary photo editors in magazines now create "paste-ups" digitally.





When creating a painted or photographed work using mixed media it is important to choose the layers carefully and allow enough drying time between the layers to ensure the final work will have integrity. If many different media are used it is equally important to choose a sturdy foundation upon which the different layers are imposed.



Many interesting effects can be achieved by using mixed media. Often, found objects are used in conjunction with traditional artist media, such as paints and graphite, to express a meaning in the everyday life. In this manner, many different elements of art become more flexible than with traditional artist media.