“Visual art and music share a long history of contamination and assimilation. Their relation is even more evident today when making images or music necessitates the same material and combines a similar vocabulary and culture: cut, paste, sample, remake.” – Jerome Sans 2002
Dzine has worked for years straddling the very thin boundary between art & music and for his first solo exhibition at moniquemeloche he will present a new body of paintings titled beat junkie, chop shop. Like a DJ addicted to beats-per-minute, Dzine samples and remixes both music and art history like a chop shop tech collecting stolen car parts to create fresh forms.
This self-taught artist was born Carlos Rolon (b. 1970) and adopted the tag name “Dzine” as a young teen. The name stuck but his graffiti style evolved into serious abstract painting infused with musical undertones fostered by his father’s love of Salsa and his brother’s interest in early House. From album covers to paintings interpreting a certain track to cd/catalogue collaborative projects, Dzine is known internationally for his work with Yellow Productions, Silent Poets, Guidance Recordings, DJ CAM, and more. He has exhibited worldwide from Tokyo, Paris, London, San Juan, Nairobi, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, to Iowa City! This past September, the MCA Chicago invited Dzine and the other members of JUBA Collective to have their first Artists-In-Residence program, which featured a site-specific installation sampler painted by Dzine. Locally, many will recall his “Search for Love” 2001 collaboration with Judy Ledgerwood and DJ CAM at Gallery 312. Upcoming solo shows in 2003 include Candela Gallery, Puerto Rico; Rocket Gallery, Tokyo; and Galerie Valerie Cueto, Paris. Dzine opened his own recording studio (named La La Productions after the artist’s grandmother) behind his painting studio and will release his first track in early 2003.
