text + photography LUNAFORA
Meet Adam Enrique Rodriguez, a rising young artist from Indio, CA. Rodriguez’s work explores various themes that provoke social commentary from money, to water, to sex, to politics, and peace. Lately, his myriad of painted faces has become his signature style featured on murals, fashion pins, custom bags, and more. There are noticeable influences in his work from Basquiat, Keith Haring, Picasso, to African art, but it’s undeniably Adam Enrique Rodriguez. At public events like the Joshua Tree Music Festival, Indian Wells Arts Festival, and The Coachella Valley Art Scene, he combines artistic mediums, interacts with passersby, and paints live. “It is a performance art,” Rodriguez says. “I’m dancing, I’m painting, I’m interacting.” On site, he often paints his own face, adding multiple eyes here and there and an extra mouth on the side of his cheek. This creates the illusion as if seeing three or more faces at once, bringing another dynamic to the performance. In person, he is equally compelling as the paintings he creates. He dons a Buddhist, art-punk hairdo, half-shaved up front and weaved into a long pony tail towards the back. He has a flair for bold, funky clothes that’s part street and part new-age yoga. Amongst the public, he greets strangers with a childlike quality and a friendly smile. Allow us to introduce Adam Enrique Rodriguez, in his own words.
Can you tell us about yourself and background as an artist?
I am from Indio, California. I am the firstborn son [of] four children and was an only child for seven years. I graduated from Indio High School in 2008 and attended a semester at Laguna College of Art and Design. I had my first formal art class in [my] senior year of high school where I met an instructor who saw promise in my work and guided me towards the right direction when it came [to] pursuing my art as a career. I won “Best in Show” at an annual exhibition for all local high schools, hosted by The Palm Springs Art Museum at the end of the year. Immediately after a semester at LCAD, while on leave of absence, I sold my first painting to the daughter-in-law of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation when I was eighteen. I eventually quit working in restaurants to support myself financially and landed a job at Heather James Gallery in Palm Desert, where I worked for two years as an art handler. I got the opportunity to hold and hang everything from two thousand-year-old Tang Dynasty ceramics, to multi-million dollar pieces of artwork by Picasso, Van Gogh, Lichtenstein, Leger — just to name a few. Nowadays, two years after leaving the gallery, I have sacrificed everything to solely create art as my means of income.
What was your experience like in high school?
My high school experience wasn’t anything spectacular. I usually was bullied from freshman to junior year because of the fact [that] I dressed differently and only got along with girls. I was constantly being challenged or had to defend myself against groups of kids I wouldn’t even know or recognize, but somehow they knew me. I think a lot of my creative freedom and self expression was stifled during my time attending a Christian school as a child. Uniforms and dress code and haircuts… once I got to a public school I went crazy on how I wanted to dress. I always had some inclination to want to push the limits any way I [could] through the way I dressed, my hairstyle, even the content of my work. Maybe the creative suppression throughout grade school can be the reason I wanted to make a statrment so bad once I transferred schools. But that came with a price — being a social outcast.
Many of your paintings depict faces — what draws you to this subject and how would you describe your artwork?
The faces came about after I dropped out of art school. Being jaded by my life as an art student and the academic approach to art, I started to experiment with a more expressive quality to my work. Faces [were] just… an automatic interest because I felt it was the most difficult to render for me. I had this notion I had to confront whatever was most intimidating. For me, the series of faces have been an examination of my own identity [as] an artist and a human being. The relationship between the artist and audience also fascinates me. The exploration into a more expressive quality of my work has helped dissolve the barriers between my work as an artist and how the audience can relate to my art. I love to leave the process behind my work very apparent.
What do you enjoy most about live painting and interacting with the public?
Live painting is like a social experiment and the variables are the people I interact with as they pass by. I love allowing my viewers the opportunity to interact with the painting and to gain insight into the process behind creating art in public with others. The most enjoyable experiences for me are sharing my painting with children and learning their fresh perspectives on life and self expression.
The older I get, the more it becomes apparent, that the honest pursuit of art and the overall goal for every artist should be to inspire others and to work towards the betterment of all humankind and life on earth.
— Adam Enrique Rodriguez
Can you tell us an interesting story from one of your live painting experiences?
There are many great connections I share with people passing by, while painting live. The most common experience that occurs in public comes from interaction with children and their parents. Almost every time, the initial reaction is to be weary and reserved once I ask to have the children paint on my work, but after some coercion and goofy, childlike interaction with the kids, the parents become comfortable with allowing their child to paint. Whatever [happens] from that point is pure magic. Children have the freedom to incorporate themselves [into] my work and the parents can have a glimpse into their children’s raw, creative capabilities. It is always… gratifying to witness.
Where do you go to find inspiration?
Usually my inspiration comes from experience — situations I have been in, trials and tribulations throughout my life, as well as current situations throughout the world. Sexuality and mortality will always be a contribution to my work. I am very involved in society and psychology as a human being and think art is a great tool into learning how the human mind works. It’s always a constant mystery and source of inspiration for me.
Which artists have had the most influence on your work?
The greatest influential figures in my life as an artist… my teacher in senior year of high school, Jennifer. Ireland -Alwine, the music of Bob Marley, and art history ranging everywhere from [the] Tang Dynasty, to the work of William Bouguereau, to the paintings of Francis Bacon and Pablo Picasso, Miro and Matisse, as well as contemporary art.
You travel about often and once mentioned having a desire to live in New York — what draws you to the Big Apple?
New York has always been a fascination of mine ever since I visited in eighth grade. I have always known that the arts scene of New York is definitely the place to be. Once I moved to San Francisco I realized that I needed to experience the city of San Francisco in order to be prepared for Los Angeles so that I can survive in NYC.
You have a pretty interesting wardrobe and haircut — how would you describe your style?
My style is definitely more of a marketing tool than anything, I use my wardrobe to make a statement. I feel fashion can serve as an extension of your own personality, and I wear loud clothes to speak about personality and ego as an artist. Half of my head is shaved and I dress in a lot of loose-fitting clothes with many conflicting patterns. Many people think I am a monk or something like that.
What are you currently working on — what’s next?
Currently, I am working up a collection of work [for] a show to be held at The Coachella Valley Art Scene on February 19th, 2016. It will be my debut solo exhibition. So, I’m very excited. Lately, I have been working on paintings that will revolve around the theme of the show, which will be an examination into the self-portrait or modern day “selfie.”
If you made millions of dollars through your artwork what would you do with it and how would it change your life?
In the unlikely event that I make millions of dollars through my artwork, I would utilize it to do good in this world. Whether philanthropic or on a personal level, I want to help the planet. Bob Marley once said, “What good is one man’s life if he can’t help plenty of people?” I believe it is the duty of the artist to give back in any means necessary. The only reason I feel I need to make any wealth off of my artwork is to be in more of an advantage to help those who cannot help themselves. Right now, wealth is controlled by majority of people who aren’t responsible with it: corporate greed, exuberant lifestyles and materialism, etc.
What is you main goal as an artist?
My main goal as an artist is something that I have been devising ever since I was old enough to pick up a paintbrush and I may never know what the ultimate goal of my work is. The older I get, the more it becomes apparent that the honest pursuit of art and the overall goal for every artist should be to inspire others, and to work towards the betterment of all humankind and life on Earth.
Is there a main message you would like to get across to viewers?
My statement or message as an artist is always going to be under construction, but from what I have discovered in my work thus far, I wish to work at dissolving the barriers between art and its relationship to the audience. The act of making art and how people perceive art is very much based off of one’s ego. Artists typically get offended if someone doesn’t like their work and people who don’t make art usually consider themselves incapable of drawing anything other than a stick figure. I want my work to showcase the ugliness behind the process that goes into making art, that it’s not about the finished product, its about the process.
Anything else you would like to add?
Nothing I would like to add other than to clarify that my work is not about me, it is about my audience, it is an exploration into the human experience and is solely concerned with inspiring every person who views it, that they will want to take into their own hands — the responsibility of inspiring everyone else and making this world an even more beautiful place than it already is.
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