Alexis Duque is a NYC based artist born in Medellin, Colombia. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Antioquia, Medellin and has exhibited in numerous venues including: El Museo del Barrio, The Heckscher Museum of Art, Praxis International Gallery in NY; Schiltkamp Gallery at Clark University, Worcester, MA; Ogden Contemporary Arts, Ogden, UT; The Alden B. Dow Museum of Science and Art, Midland, MI; and Galleri Oxholm in Copenhagen, Denmark. Duque’s work has been featured in “Imagine Architecture: Artistic Visions of The Urban Realm” by Gestalten, WhiteHot Magazine, Beautiful Decay and New American Paintings among others.

The chaotic and unavoidable process of urbanization in our globalized and over populated world are the central focus of my work. I am interested in depicting clustered spaces and precarious constructions that seem to multiply and overflow with crowded objects in one continuous urban sprawl, at the same time as such structures begin to crumble and decompose from within. Through the use of exaggerated drama and distortion, my work attempts to challenge the way the viewer confronts the idea of consumerism and urbanization within contemporary culture and draw the viewer’s attention to the isolation of the transitory residents, like semi-nomads that emigrate hoping to find a better life on the outskirts of large metropolises.

Newly globalized economies have engendered major changes, from expanded trade networks to new methods of commodity production and the shifts in the labor force these activities require. In recent decades, new patterns of migration have emerged and significant populations have moved to rapidly expanding urban centers, transforming the individual’s relationship to the city. I investigate the conditions of metropolitan landscapes, including the effects of gentrification and urban renewal, political expression, and power.

The subject of my most recent series of paintings are the people who live in the outskirts of big cities who have emigrated in search of a better life or have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands. Through the use of portraiture and the elongation of some of the figures, I seek to bring attention to each character by dignifying their struggle and humanity, while referencing their spiritual being. As an immigrant in the USA, I relate to their lives’ challenges, uncertainties, as well as, their joy and resilience.

My artistic practice is based on research conducted through observations and my own photography, which I then translate onto the canvas or paper and interpret through drawing and painting. My work is centered around my own experience as a Colombian immigrant in the US. The characters, settings and different elements depicted in my work directly relate to my cultural background and upbringing. I feel a great sense of pride in my identity and hope for my work to challenge stigmas and racial biases around the Latine/x community.

My paintings are portraits based on photographs taken of random people and families I’ve encountered on the streets of Colombia and NYC. They are portrayed either in their daily work hustle as a means of survival, or in moments of rest and leisure. The photos are used as a reference, I modify and create from imagination the backgrounds, colors, compositions, etc., resulting in a work far different from the initial source.