Buenos Aires hiatus leads to book release and art exhibit

 

The newly released, Urban+Primitive, The Art of Lyle Carbajal, is more than an impressive collection; it’s the exploration of the arts, perceptions, travels, and influences that have shaped the artist’s life and impressive body of work. Lyle Carbajal-who’s exhibited internationally- has explored the culture, people, and art of the Southern and Western United States, Mexico, Argentina, and regions throughout Africa. Heavily influenced by Outsider and Primitive Art, all the while working as an illustrator, Carbajal says, “Everywhere I’ve lived, these are all my people.”

 

The intricate connections to that statement are found throughout the pages in Urban+Primitive; beginning with the book’s introduction, he adeptly takes you through Animals, the Sacred, Regional People, into Totems, and then finally Illustration. Interlaced with his exposition, you’ll find an extensive collection of old and new works that will magnetize the viewer.

 

“The phrase,‘Urban+Primitive’ captures, if somewhat roughly, the thoughts, lessons, and perceptions of how I view the world;

 

I essentially divide the influence of these terms on my work.”

 

He dives deep into these themes. After completing his recent sojourn of the US with his six month immersion through Argentina, he was thinking of the book as the “chronicle [of] a lifetime of creativity, ideas, and experiences…” But it’s so much more than this. Carbajal pushes the envelope through each chapter, enriching the pages with history, extensive knowledge, his art, his observations, and his questions. Be prepared to be challenged, and to think outside the box. Go deeper and question what the paint strokes actually mean and where they come from. You’ll want to, whether you’re an artist or not.