Pearl Lam Galleries is pleased to present Mi Casa (My House), Carlos Rolon/Dzine’s inaugural solo exhibition with the gallery. This exhibition can be seen as a follow up to Rolon’s highly successful installation “My Mother’s Living Room” at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, an exact reproduction of the artist’s childhood living room in 1976 where his mother had operated a bootleg salon.

Growing up, Rolon bore witness to the ways households adapted to new American middle-class lifestyles with homes, walls and furniture embellished with exotic colours, textures, patterns and items, creating a sense of identity and comfort. Particularly prominent was the use of mirrors, coloured walls and patterned wallpaper that adorned his family’s domiciles. The nexus of the home was the dinner table, typically filled with decorated plates and sculptural decanters, set amongst music and raucous dialogue. These elements allowed tiny apartments or houses that were shared by many relatives to seem larger, lending these interior spaces an aesthetic of grandeur that referenced upper class culture.

Having been raised in and surrounded daily by this environment, Rolon incorporates custom culture, faux luxury and excessiveness into his work today as a homage to his culture. The artist not only pays homage to this culture, but also produces a shrine-like presentation and embrace on the universal themes of the home.

Opening reception: Tuesday, 20 January 2014, 7-9pm.

Artist dialogue*: Saturday, 24 January 2014, 3pm.

*Please RSVP to 6570-2284 or [email protected]