Christian Aaron Mendoza

Born 1972 – Managua, Nicaragua
Currently lives and works in New York City

Biography

Christian Aaron Mendoza is a New York City based Artist & Designer from Nicaragua whose work draws from early Experiences with Nature, Architecture, Art History, Books, and influences of New York City, Miami, Tokyo and his Travels. Mendoza’s style bridges the Modern,Primitive, and Organic. He draws strongly on the nature and folklore of his Latin American Heritage and his World Wide Studies while interpreting the density and chaos of daily urban life. 

In the 1980’s his family moved to The Bronx where Mendoza began to develop a style that combining Architectural Draftsmanship, Collage & with the new inspirations of Museums, Libraries, Galleries,Public & indoor Sculptures , letters, faces, and forms that then covered the Subways of the City. At a young Age, he learned Drafting and about Architecture from his father. This inspiration brought Mendoza to the study of Ancient Civilizations, Navigation Maps, Hieroglyphs, Petroglyphs, Calligraphies, and Alphabets from both past and Modern Cultures in the Americas. With great dedication he continued his study of World Alphabets, Art History, Color, light Energy and Movement, working in a range of styles that culminate all the influences of his early development. 

His paintings are grounded with descriptive line work that creates a sense of movement and energy. A Visual manifestation of the sonic combinations found in early Electronic Music, Comic Books & early Analog Hip-Hop and House Music mix tapes and performances emanate from his surfaces. Interchangeability between the sense of visual and audio is an artistic subject that has been pursued universally and historically, and Mendoza’s practice can also be positioned in that context. It is something that goes beyond an ordinary world that an individual perceives through the five senses, instead, it enables an individual to access the supernatural / mythological world through so-called collective unconsciousness. Science-fictional elements that can often be seen in Mendoza’s works function as motives to emerge such a mythological world from the mixture of ancient culture and urban life experience that are his resources of inspiration.

Mendoza has been commissioned by Altoids (Brooklyn & Miami), Crispin, Porter + Bogusky for Kaiser Family Foundation (VH1), Deutsch LA, Ray-Ban (benefiting ONE SIGHT) Luxottica, NISSAN North America , Puma North America ,Marui Group Ltd ,Timberland (benefiting The National MS Society), Wynwood Walls , Miami Goldman Properties; The Creek South Beach Hotel,HBO,Mountain Dew for PepsiCo, Mirrorball, Colab Projects Group , H&M Hennes & Mauritz, Sony, and is in collections such as Soho House, Nissan USA, Escada US, SSTV Network, Chavez Design, Altoids, NextidEvolution, Truth & Soul Records,Def Jam Records Japan , NBC Universal. Express, Scion, X-large japan, Beams Tokyo, Ships Ltd Japan B's Point, Overthinkingwastaken Advertising Agency , New York University , Saratoga Arts ,Institute of Omoshiro Mirai Tokyo.

 Mendoza's work has appeared in media such as Abrams Books ,Harper-Collins,Mark Batty Publishers ,Rizzoli Publications ,Harper Design ,Soho Books ,V Magazine (Visionaire), Interview, STYLE and the Family Tunes, Berlin, NewYork1, The Phillips Collection, New York University A/P/A Institute, Juxtapoz Magazine, Rizzoli ,World literature Today, The Daily News , The Miami Herald ,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, RES Magazine, Educated Community, Tokion Magazine, Warp Magazine,  Relax Magazine, Penguin Group, Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha Co,Ltd Techo,  Eleven Spring by Wooster Collective : Pearl River Mart : Calypso Times : Seidosha Publisher, Tokyo ; Ryusa Publication ,The Amana Group Japan.

Mendoza has been in exhibitions With The Smithsonian Asian Pacific Center, Joshua Liner Gallery, NewYork; Museo de Arte, San Juan Puerto Rico; White Box Gallery, New York; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem; Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico; Museum of SanDiego; Cindy Rucker Gallery; Fuse Gallery; Transport Gallery, Los Angeles;  Dyezu-Exp Gallery, Tokyo; Gallery Lombardi,Texas; Stolen Space Gallery, London; Galeria Carlos Irizarry; Rojas Ford Fine Art ,Delray Beach ;Power Studios Miami Design District , Modern & Primitive Gallery , Atlanta ,GA ; Shooting Gallery, San Francisco; Kyoto Zokei University; Calm and punk Gallery, Japan; WAG Gallery ,Tokyo; Dupont Underground Washington DC; Pearl River Gallery Tribeca, Ny .Tibet House ,NYC ; The Alley Gallery, Rutland Vermont; The Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum :Southern Vermont Arts Center; +81 Gallery , New York ; Latin American Masters Pavilion, Philadelphia Armory Fine art fair; Rutgers University Newark ,NJ. NowHere Gallery , Soho.

Artist Statement

My paintings are grounded with non-narrative descriptive and/or iconographic line work that creates a sense of movement, energy and abstract stories. Much of my symbolic information is my visual experimentation with different sounds, research, reading books, Sketching,Collage, taking photographs, the noise of the city and its broken symphony and musical performances I attend. Music plays a vital role in my creative process. To me, drawing is a blue print for all things to be able to exist. This is the way I have a dialogue with myself , A way to write down, Create blueprints charged with ideas that come to me in the daily act of living. By drawing, visualizing and composing abstract concepts in my mind, and on paper I am reminded of my daily habits, a common thread of the human condition. Time Changes and Every Second Becomes An Indelible Light Mechanism , An indelible Memory with determined Exactitude