Jose Parla — The Joy Project

Continuing the Art of Play
September 17 + 24, 2025

Artist: José Parlá

Join Zoom Meeting / Class
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87618016665

José Parlá (b. 1973) creates paintings and multidisciplinary works inspired by his interest in hybrid forms of abstraction. His works poetically challenge concepts related to language, politics, identity, and our definitions of places and spaces. Parlá’s approach to mark-making is both physical and textural, integrating bodily gestures into a painterly stream of consciousness that features areas of addition, erasure, and layering—questioning the status quo of visual culture.

Artist Website

Warm-up + Project

This will be a 2-week project to allow for larger work, layering of your piece, and time to complete and observe a direction that is evolving.

Notable phrases about José Parlá:

His art serves as a form of abstract journaling, capturing fragmented pieces of information.
His mixed-media style involves building dense, textured surfaces.
His process in his abstract paintings is physical and active!
His art is informed by his own experiences.

We are going to concentrate on mark making, layers, mixed-media and lots of energy. Consider your own style of mark, color, movement and intention.

Possible themes to consider: