Carlos Rolón: BOXED

June 1 - August 4

Carlos Rolón's studio practice investigates craft, ritual, beauty and its relationship to art history, subculture, appropriation and the institution. As a first-generation immigrant of Puerto Rican descent, the artist creates objects questioning the concept of luxury and craft making to explore questions of identity, integration, and aspiration. His work also represents a detailed examination of curiosity and the process of art making and the cultures surrounding this. The work often addresses his biography by melding memory and the imaginary. The artist often channels this approach with site-specific installation work, vivid large-scale paintings and ornate sculptures in various materials expanding on ideas of self-reflection and imagined luxury. The works ultimately produce a hybrid language of social practice, painting, and sculpture inviting the viewer to engage in discourse and discussion.

BOXED, features a variety of works exploring the sport of boxing. Boxing loomed large in the artist’s childhood household; he recalls watching a young Howard Cosell on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and the infamous “No Más” fight between Roberto Durán and Sugar Ray Leonard, occasions that also provided opportunities to bond with his father. The exhibition will present a series of mixed media paintings, sculptures, and a full- size replica of the artist’s childhood basement.

Carlos Rolón returns to UAB after creating the large-scale painting Tokyo Boogie in 2003, in the former location of the UAB Visual Arts Gallery. Tokyo Boogie will be on display for the first time in 15 years as part of this exhibition.