MILAGROS: Saturater

March 17 - May 21, 2022

Exuberant new paintings, small sculptural objects, and murals from the New Orleans-based collective.

OPENING RECEPTIONS

Thursday, March 17 — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 19 — 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Co-founded in 2009 by artists Felici Asteinza and Joey Fillastre, Milagros’ multi-dimensional practice is noted for dynamic arrangements of color, hand-drawn pattern, an elaborate sampling of materials and techniques, and a visible commitment to experimentation and play.

For Saturater, the group’s first solo presentation, Milagros has created 17 new paintings, 60 sculptural objects, and two murals — one covering the gallery's exterior facade, the other spanning an interior wall, a painted canvas hidden within it. Beyond their brightly covered surfaces, Milagros’ new paintings have a captivating formal intelligence that has become endemic to their practice. In Cucurrucucu, the interplay of swirling pattern, talon-like forms, glossy ribbons of dripped paint, and a thick blob of pigmented resin, textured with glitter and sediment makes for a complex composition that is both frenetic and meditative. In Outskirt and Greener, latticed, tubular forms seem to defy gravity, hovering delicately in mid-air, as if it could bend, stretch, or even collapse with the slightest touch. The new works demonstrate that “collaboration” isn’t just Milagros’ chosen approach to art making. There is a dynamic synthesis happening at the formal and material levels of their compositions as well.

In addition to paintings and murals, the gallery also presents Milagros’ new collection of Crud Buddies: 60 unique sculptural objects crafted from ocean-bound foam (i.e. styrofoam trash found in pollution “islands” along the Mississippi River, which have been reshaped by the roll of water over time). The material is then painted and embellished with pigmented resin, rhinestones, Milagros’ signature ticking, and handmade ceramic facial forms. Each object is named (as opposed to titled) along with a pet-adoption inspired personality descriptors—e.g. Quincy,Loves anything produced by Jimmy Jam and regrets missing Prince at the 2014 Essence festival. They're currently pioneering the mild sauce meatball. Part found-object assemblage, part candy-colored kitsch, these anthropomorphized, non-binary, magical creatures exude joy and jest. With an attitude of determined optimism, Milagros’ Crud Buddies confront issues of excess, destruction and discrimination with a positive visual language that projects respect, resilience, and inclusivity.

With references to folk craft traditions, creative recycling, and performative spontaneity, Milagros: Saturater teems with a more-is-more effervescence that is decidedly theirs.

*Twenty-five percent of sale proceeds from Crud Buddies will be donated to Healthy Gulf.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Milagros is an artist collective co-founded by Felici Asteinza and Joey Fillastre that creates site-specific murals, installations, paintings, small objects, and community spaces. Their practice is characterized by exuberant arrangements of color and form, hand-drawn pattern, experimentation, immediate visual impact, and an underlying spirit of play.

Milagros murals and installations have been commissioned by institutions, non-profits, and businesses across the Southeast, including ArtPlace America x Elsewhere Museum, Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, the Young at Art Museum, New Orleans Public Library, the City of Decatur x MARTA, the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, and Kaboom!, among others. The collective has also participated in numerous artistic residencies, including Elsewhere (Greensboro, NC), Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans, LA), A Studio in the Woods (New Orleans, LA), The Studios at Mass Moca (North Adams, MA), and ProjectArt Social Practice Residency (New Orleans, LA). Milagros is based in New Orleans.