Charles Molina

The first monograph devoted to the contemporary visual artist Charles MolinaCharles Molina (2001-2021) is a young artist who passed away prematurely, but who had time to make his mark on the Miami scene with works at the crossroads of abstract expressionism and street art. He was also inspired by the pulsating rhythms of hip hop and electro music, and collaborated with artists from this scene: he designed the cover of the #Utopia2 album and created the portrait of rapper XXXTentacion. His works are characterized by a superimposition of materials and techniques (oil, acrylic, pastels, pen, markers, collages, cut-outs), but also by a singular sense of urgency, a creative frenzy driving him to multiply supports: walls, doors, cars, objects, wooden panels or pieces of canvas. Abrupt subjects, scraped layers of paint, splashes, torn-off sections: Charles Molina's works reflect an almost chaotic, sometimes violent spontaneity. But his paintings also reveal a gentleness and sensitivity in the choice of color nuances, as well as a meticulousness reflected in the numerous preparatory drawings. With this aesthetic halfway between delicacy and urgency, reflection and intuition, Charles Molina appropriates and assembles icons from history and pop culture to make them the protagonists of his own stories. This bilingual monograph is both a retrospective and a tribute, presenting a wide range of material (preparatory drawings, notebooks, texts and poems, tags, artwork) to capture the diversity and introspective scope of Charles Molina's creations.