Whitehot Recommends: Pedro Pedro: Table, Fruits, Flowers, and Cakes at The Hole

Pedro Pedro, Pile of Citrus, 2022. Textile paint on linen, 63 x 46 in. Courtesy of The Hole.

Pedro Pedro: Table, Fruits, Flowers, and Cakes

The Hole

February 14th through April 29th, 2023

By WM, March 2023

From the press release: 

The Hole is proud to announce our forthcoming exhibition of paintings and drawings by Pedro Pedro: Table, Fruits, Flowers and Cakes.

For his third solo show with The Hole, LA-based artist Pedro Pedro (b. 1986) includes a variety of his signature imagery, creating indulgent and delicious paintings awaiting consumption. While the paintings are bountiful—charcuterie and cheese, stacks of seafood, soft and sugary cakes, citrus stacked to the ceiling—there is a lingering restraint, with just a slice or two taken from each. Where are the people to feast on the fruit, scarf the seafood, smoke the strewn cigarettes or to paint with the plentiful pots of paint on Pedro’s tables?

With fourteen paintings and nine paintings on paper, we are treated to an abbondanza of works, the most he has shown at one time. The paintings’ muted tonality and soft focus comes from Pedro’s technique of applying textile paint onto unprimed linen. Instead of the paint sitting on top of the white gessoed fabric, these works have the pigment soak into the fibers, dyeing them. The artist paints the image in multiple passes to get these gorgeous colors; from hot pink grapefruit to pea green pickles, deep red lobster or bright lemon yellow.

Pedro Pedro, Plates with Oysters, Lobsters, Fish, Sandwiches and Charcuterie, 2022. Textile paint on linen, 72 x 63 in. Courtesy of The Hole.

In Pedro’s universe, wholesomeness coexists with disquiet. This tension is underscored by the artist’s skewed perspective and flat planes, upon which all objects are plopped as if ready to fall off the canvas. Some of the juxtapositions give pause: sharp knives close to plump peaches, a lighter and an oily paint rag, stinky sandals precariously close to a toothbrush. Most important to Pedro’s practice, however, is his intuition, drafted from a collage of images with scenes that come together as he goes along, allowing his inner thoughts to shine through, while also leaving space for our own.

Los Angeles–based artist Pedro Pedro (b. 1986) has exhibited with The Hole since 2019, first in the group show Post Analog Studio, then in solo exhibitions Still Life (2020) and Cataloupe and Kokomo (2021) and in group shows Second Smile and Nature Morte. His work has also appeared in solo exhibitions at o.o Gallery in Los Angeles and English Kills in Brooklyn, New York. International group exhibitions include Universes 2.0 at The Garage Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Pedro’s work has been reviewed recently in Interview, Lampoon Magazine and Hyperallergic. WM