“All Eyez On Me” dice Tupac Shakur en uno de sus éxitos, no estaba tan equivocado, los ojos siempre han sido nuestra manera de acceder a los sentimientos y pensamientos de la gente, “The eyes are the gateway to the soul”, dice la frase y en el trabajo de Chris Yerington (New York, 1978), se aprecian muchos de estos junto a otros iconos modernos de la cultura. La combinación de 33 ojos en cada icono de sus obras hace una muestra gratificante de morfología y expectativa para el observador, el contraste de estos con los fondos de colores contrastantes hacen que se las figuras cobren vida y te vean de vuelta. Tuve la oportunidad de platicar con Chris en esta pasada edición del Pasaje Victoria en la ciudad de Chihuahua. le pregunté cuál era la razón de los 33 ojos en cada personaje a lo cual contestó:
The 33 eyes show came initially from my interest in studying religión, I am not religious personally, I just find the subject to be very thought provoking. I was reading about ancient and primitive religions and it said the the first time people tried to express God visually, they used multiple eyes to show that God can see everything.
Habiendo nacido en New York me imaginé que la selección natural de Yerington para sus iconos sería solamente de influencia neoyorkina como Woody Allen, Yogi Berra o Mike Tyson, pero no, sus imágenes incluyen a ídolos tan dispares como Emiliano Zapata, Patti Smith, Nina Simone, Michael Jackson, Twiggy, Al Green o Frank Sinatra (esta última mi imagen favorita de la serie).
I was raised in a Christian family and always knew that Jesus had died at age 33. When I was younger I also figured out that if you added the numbers in my birthday it equaled 33. 12/14/1978. 1+2+1+4+1+9+7+8=33. The number has always been significant to me and has appeared over and over again throughout my life.
Yerington ha expuesto esta serie en ciudades como Berlín, Alemania, Lisboa, Portugal, Quito, Ecuador, Terán e Irán y esta sería la quinta vez que expone su trabajo en la ciudad de Chihuahua, México. Como diseñador se basa mucho en la actitud D.I.Y ya que como Chris lo menciona:
“I grew up in skateboarding culture and inherited that D.I.Y. attitude”.
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As Tupak Shakur once said on one of his many hits—“All Eyes on Me.” He was definitely onto something, he wasn’t that far off; our eyes have always been the doorway to our thoughts and feelings about things and people. “The eyes are the gateway to the soul”—is a phrase that appears in the works of artist Chris Yerington (New York, 1978), many of these appreciated next to iconic modernist of the culture.
The combination of 33 eyes in each of the icon’s art demonstrates a gratifying look at morphology and expectancy of the observer, the contrast between these and the colors makes the figures come to life.
I had the opportunity to speak with Yerington in the latest edition of Pasaje Victoria in Chihuahua and ask d him what was the reason for the 33 eyes which he replied:
“ The 33 eyes show came initially from my interest in studying religion; I am not religious personally, I just find the subject to be very thought provoking. I was reading about ancient and primitive religions and it said the first time people tried to express God visually, they used multiple eyes to show that God can see everything.”
Being born in New York, I imagined the natural selection of his work for his icons would solely have a New York influence, like Woody Allen, Yogi Berra or Mike Tyson, but no—his images also include Emiliano Zapata, Patti Smith, Nina Simone, Michael Jackson, Twiggy, Al Green and Frank Sinatra (the last one being my favorite of the series).
“I was raised in a Christian family and always knew that Jesus had died at age 33. When I was younger I also figured out that if you added the numbers in my birthday it equaled 33—12/14/1978. 1+2+1+4+1+9+7+8=33. The number has always been significant to me and has appeared over and over again throughout my life.”
Yerington has shown this art series in Berlin, Germany; Lisbon, Portugal; Quito, Ecuador and Tehran, Iran, and this was the 5th time the installment was shown in Chihuahua, Mexico. As a designer, his work is based in the the D.I.Y. ethic, as he explains:
“I grew up in skateboarding culture and inherited that D.I.Y. attitude.”
