Monique Prieto Solo Exhibition

Monique Prieto Untitled 125x173cm 2007. Monique Prieto Solo Exhibition: On view at Praz-Delavallade Gallery from January 26 to March 8. Monique Prieto is a new generation painter in California, USA. In contemporary painting that is either avant-garde or barely surviving, weak artistic expression seems hard to convince; in this post-9/11 era, most paintings emerge on the edge of society presented narratively or story-like. It is rare to see works that interpret painting through painting itself, whether figurative, non-figurative, abstract, or otherwise. Thus, Monique Prieto’s work is striking; although not perfect, it is certainly distinct.

Monique Prieto’s painting clearly points out its elegant decorative, graphic, textual, and abstract features. This originated from an unexpected encounter with text-written wall graffiti during a walk in 2003. From this inspiration, she introduced text into her work, coinciding with her reading of the diary literature of 19th-century British writer Samuel Pepys. She transferred these two types of text (in black) into the world of abstract painting, attempting to create a new pattern. The artist says, "I have reintroduced the black I abandoned years ago. What I want to show is the present, the working consciousness in our era. Allowing for numerous ways of thinking and political expression, I choose internal sharing through text. I know I need to apply words; I hope this maintains an internal aspect (...) but do not wish it to be entirely personal."

In Monique Prieto’s paintings, text oscillates between readable and unreadable, inviting audience participation and validation. Full of feeling, these statements are transformed into painting elements, incorporated into form and color, like the symbolic language of abstract painting. This enigmatic painting establishes her work between semi-abstraction and description against an equally uniform background and form. Some things are representational, yet not so obvious; ultimately, language becomes abstract form.