RIVES GRANADE

Moomat Ahiko
Oil on canvas
78” x 108”
2012 - 2016

Rives Granade is a conceptual painter interested in the different ways we perceive space and language. His large-scale paintings combine blurred and softened abstract shapes - mostly borrowed from nature - with letter-forms from digital life and commercial culture.

By repainting watery washes of color in the background and overlaying snippets of partially-readable text, Granade creates two-layered spaces that are simultaneously serene and electric, mirroring our experience of modern life.

Granade works in a long Los Angeles tradition of exploring how letter-forms are also part of the urban landscape and how differences between commercial design and fine art are false. Of note, the painting is significantly larger than human scale, inviting the viewer to step into its expanded dream space.