Louis Melf Esparragoza uses his art to play with the conventions of celebrity culture and portraiture. Taking famous faces, Esparragoza covers them with traditional folk patterns from his country of birth, Venezuela. In doing so, the artist gives the subjects what those in the public eye often crave- anonymity.
Esparragoza’s stylisation means that the people featured in his works often become hard to identify, but the work itself isn’t shrouded in darkness and mystery; instead the artist conversely employs a bright and bold palette, using colour and texture to engage the viewer’s attention even more.
Exploring the dialectics between revelation and concealment, Louis Melf Esparragoza’s visually stunning work in turn becomes a commentary on the public gaze into private lives.