Oklahoma Contemporary
Eduardo Sarabia
A man in a black shirt and gray pants is spray painting large green vines onto a riveted yellow panel of a building. Tall pink blooms jump into the foreground.

New Light

Nov. 22, 2022

La casa: An Interview with Eduardo Sarabia

“If you keep investigating them and you keep looking at them, they just get deeper and deeper”

Storytelling is in the bones of La casa artist Eduardo Sarabia’s works. He mines a variety of sources, from the pig farm next door and his grandfather’s treasure map to using the Japanese technique of Kintsugi to salvage cracking, human-sized vases. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Sarabia found his connection to Guadalajara a little later in life, but when he did, he never left.

Two people stand in the middle of two large terracotta colored vases and wooden boxes. One box reads 'FARMER JOHN.' Large, colorful paintings hang behind them.
Eduardo Sarabia's ceramic vessels

“There’s an amazing art collector … who owns a ceramic factory there,” Sarabia says in an interview. “He saw my artwork at Miami Basel, the fair, and he looked me up and he invited me to Guadalajara to produce some work with him. I thought I was only going to be there for three months — and it’s been 20 years.”

Two of Sarabia’s towering ceramic vessels (sized to his height and width) — embellished with all things legal and illegal, personal and fascinating — sit in our Main Gallery. The artist paints vivid murals as well, including the greenery — inspired by L.A.’s sprawling vines — currently climbing our Showroom. Weaving narratives in his work, Sarabia finds solace and excitement within a city-turned-home.

Five people stand in an art gallery looking at the camera. From left to right, there is a man in a yellow shirt, woman in a pink, black and white dress, man in a checkered button-up and two women in grey and black.
Artist Eduardo Sarabia (center) with La casa artists and curator

“I think there’s something really special happening in Guadalajara,” Sarabia says. “The creative scene is definitely influenced and started by artists. There’s this whole thing in the [exhibition’s Learning Gallery] about how artists can change communities; I really feel like Guadalajara is an interesting model for that. Everything that’s happening, the energy, the friendships and the light that’s shone on Guadalajara is amazing.”

Catch the full interview with the Guadalajara-based artist below. Over the run of the exhibition, we’ll unveil new conversations about La casa, Guadalajara and cultivating creative communities. See an interview with Eduardo Sarabia below, Cynthia Gutiérrez here, Claudia Cisneros here, curator Viviana Kuri here and artist talks held opening weekend here. Or visit our entire La casa playlist on YouTube.

Images:

Artist Eduardo Sarabia paints his Green Vines / Enredaderas Verdes (2022) on the Showroom. Photo: Cassandra Watson.

Installation view of Eduardo Sarabia's Untitled (Guamuchil) / Sin título (Guamuchil) and Untitled (Farmer John) / Sin título (Granjero John) (2019). Photo: Alex Marks.

Artist Eduardo Sarabia (center) with La casa artists Hiram Constantino (left), Renata Petersen and Florencia Guillén (right) and curator Kate Green (left). Photo: AJ Stegall.


Tags tags
artist interview La casa que nos inventamos mural ceramics Guadalajara


Return to New Light.

Hours

Monday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Closed Tuesday

Wednesday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Thursday 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday - Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

see additional holidays

Location

Visit us at 11 NW 11th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
Phone: 405 951 0000
Fax: 405 459 0551
info@okcontemp.org

SEND MAIL TO
Oklahoma Contemporary
P.O. Box 3062
Oklahoma City, OK 73101

Newsletter Signup

STAY UP TO DATE
Join our mailing list to learn about our events, exhibitions, education and more.