Erick Medel
Erick Medel’s embroidered works touch on everyday life in Los Angeles, particularly speaking on the Mexican-American experience. Medel’s sewing machine serves as a drawing tool in which each mark is made separately. The work vacillates in form between sculpture, painting, and craft. His approach is intuitive and spontaneous, with his hands guiding the fabric while the machine perforates and threads the images. The process is laborious and painstakingly detailed, serving as a constant reminder of the immigrant labor surrounding him. The colors of weathered hand-painted murals draping over local stores influence his color palette and his work is a constant exploration of what it means to exist and navigate identity in two worlds. Medel received his Master’s in Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2018.
Moonwalks on East Cesar Chavez Street
20 x 24 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
Hustle (at La Pulga)
24 x 35 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
Cowboys Training Camp (Ricky and Nina)
16 x 20 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
Backpacks
20 x 24 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
Street Flowers (do it right)
16 x 20 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
For the Audience (Globos con Audiencia)
35 x 27 inches
Polyester thread on denim
2023
Erick Medel CV
Education
MFA, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 2018
Exhibitions
2024
NADA Miami, (group booth),Martha’s, Miami, FL
Not Your Regular Painting, (group show), F2T Gallery, Milan, Italy
The Armory Show, (solo booth) Fragment Gallery, New York, NY
Vidas, (solo show), Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Dallas Art Fair, Charlie James Gallery, Dallas, TX
Felix Art Fair, Charlie James Gallery , Los Angeles, CA
Crescent Heights, (group show), Harper’s, Los Angeles, CA
2023
Traditions, (group show), Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, Anaheim, CA
Algo Familiar, (solo show), Martha’s, Austin,TX
Cup Show 2, (group show), Space Ten, Hawthorne, CA
Ephemeral Pleasures, (group show), Richard Heller Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Wet Hot Texas Summer, (group show), Martha's, Austin,TX
Back of Our Hands, (group show), De Bour, Los Angeles, CA
Hand Over Hand: Textiles Today, (group show), Mindy Solomon, Miami, FL
Dallas Art Fair, (group booth), Rusha & Co., Dallas, TX
Mariachi, (solo show), Rusha & Co., Los Angeles, CA
Dirty Realism: Otra Noche en L.A., (group show), Veta Galeria, Madrid, Spain
Strings of Desire, (group show), Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles,CA
2022
Unseen Threads, (group show), Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
With Us, (solo show) Ojiri Projects, London, UK
Dallas Art Fair, (group booth), Martha’s Contemporary, Dallas, TX
Apple in the Dark, ( group show), Harkawik, New York, NY
ZONAMACO Fair (solo booth), Seasons LA, Mexico City, Mexico
2021
Hustling De Sol A Sol, (solo show), Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
Breakfast in America, (group show), Seasons LA, Los Angeles, CA
The Human Scale, (group show) curated by Kristin Van Loon and Ryan Fontaine,
Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
2020
Right Now, (group show), Hair and Nails, Minneapolis, MN
Still Here, (group show), Martha’s Contemporary, Austin, TX
Americans Only Flags (solo presentation), Liberal Arts Roxbury, Roxbury, NY
SPRING/BREAK Art Fair (group show) w/ Gas Gallery,) Los Angeles, CA
Custom (group show), Gas Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Ambient Space of Dimension, Sublimation / Stellar Projects, New York, NY
NADA House (two person presentation w/ Baseera Khan), New Art Dealers Alliance, HOUSING Gallery, Governors Island, NY
Everyday, Everyday, Everyday, Everyday Freedoms (group show), Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Erick Medel in his studio in Los Angeles
