| A confluence
of cultures and contradictions, Juan Carlos Noria
is a painter for our times. Born in Caracas, Venezuela
he carries his Latin American sensibility on his
sleeve. As a teen growing up in Ottawa, Canada, he
became an accomplished figure skater. Grace and lines
were an obsession. So, too were his ideas of subversion.
He fell out of skating after hitting the rigid class
structure of the sport, finding comfort (and discomfort)
in visual art, on the streets with a paint can, postering,
skateboarding, fleeing police. A strange opportunity
then came. A world tour with Disney on Ice. It heightened
his sense of absurdity, humour and anger, sharpened
his visual and social awareness. Arriving back in
Ottawa, he hung up the skates and his career took
flight with live painting performances. So proficient
from his days of graffiti, he quickly earned a reputation
for highly resolved canvases produced in front of
appreciative crowds. Through these events in various
venues, Juan Carlos also ensured a showcase for other
young Ottawa artists, raising the bar and pushing
them to achieve with him. It was 2001-2002.
Meanwhile, the tide of CNNesque culture rose in
North America. Juan, always with an eye on pop
culture and current events, found himself painting
with increasing anger. He needed to change the
channel. In November 2004, he moved to Barcelona,
Spain to find tranquilo, a new
view of the world and new audiences. Since his
move, he has evolved, focused and become more prolific,
with exhibits in Spain, the United States and Canada.
True to subversive nature, he undercuts his own
personality allowing himself to explore two other
personas and visual styles. He sometimes works
under the pseudonyms of royal or dixon. He has
been influenced by hiscontemporaries Mark Marsters,
Pat Thompson and Dave Cooper. Yet, he is himself-singular
Juan. He is without pretense, full of concern for
others, quick to laugh and quicker to paint something
ripe.
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