{"id":14983,"date":"2020-04-16T14:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T21:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000009669"},"modified":"2020-04-16T14:04:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T21:04:12","slug":"artists-virus-prints-focus-on-microscopic-while-speaking-to-the-bigger-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/artists-virus-prints-focus-on-microscopic-while-speaking-to-the-bigger-picture","title":{"rendered":"Artist&#8217;s virus prints focus on the microscopic while speaking to a bigger picture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Long Beach artist Noel Madrid demos a monotype print\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5mr5I7GT230?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Preceding the coronavirus pandemic, local artist and printmaker Noel Madrid had started on a series of micro-organism inspired prints before his, and all of our lives, were drastically changed.<\/p>\n<p>But once the virus entered the picture, \u201cit wasn\u2019t much of a leap to zero in on it,\u201d Madrid said in an email. You may recognize his work from the cover of <a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/this-24-hour-isolation-playlist-may-help-you-cope-during-quarantine\">The Sound of Solitude<\/a>, a 24-hour long collaborative playlist released recently and put together by a group of local sound selectors.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/this-24-hour-isolation-playlist-may-help-you-cope-during-quarantine<\/p>\n<p>Madrid\u2019s interest in the tiny organisms began with an earlier body of work, satiating his curiosity of comparing and layering macro environments, such as road systems and other types of maps, on top of biological structures invisible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrasping at some grandiose notion of a larger picture, I came to the series with a sense of morbid humor,\u201d Madrid said. \u201cThe idea that we humans have the audacity to see ourselves as separate from our ecosystem often had an influence on my subject matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018086\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018086\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10000018086 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15171246\/NM_005-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018086\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Noel Madrid at work in his studio. Photo by Ashley Aguirre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While viewers may be able to picture these black and white monotype prints in a full-on gallery show, for Madrid, they\u2019re just a part of his process. The pieces may become reference material for an even more complex series of works in the future. He creates these &#8220;sketches&#8221; to learn about a subject and determine if he wants to pursue it any further.<\/p>\n<p>His interest in the virus is surprisingly not in its physical structure but how it&#8217;s brought to light our habits as a social species.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It does seem eerily fitting to be experiencing a pandemic of this magnitude while exploring a body of work that looks at the relationships between the micro and macro, domination vs integration, humans vs the known universe,&#8221; Madrid said. &#8220;It begs the questions, will we ever achieve clean nuclear fusion? Will COVID-19 send us all back to the dark ages? Or will we revert to the status quo and continue pushing our climate toward the next mass extinction?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Through science and art, Madrid tackles these themes so he can feel a connection to them, even a responsibility. Now, he&#8217;s poring over research materials, from scanned microscope images, diagrams and illustrations of COVID-19, as well as other microbiomes, and medical texts and science journals.<\/p>\n<p>His artwork is merrily a byproduct of his love for research, he says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018088\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018088\" style=\"width: 1300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018088\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15173356\/NM_006.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1300\" height=\"975\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist Noel Madrid in his studio. Photo by Ashley Aguirre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to think that If I hadn&#8217;t chosen to study art I would have gone into the sciences, anthropology most likely. Making the prints is as much an excuse to do the research.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Out of work as an art handler, Madrid\u2019s silver lining is being able to spend more time in the studio which he&#8217;s treating as an \u201cunpaid artist residency,\u201d at least, when he\u2019s able to will himself past \u201cthe constant low-level anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By exploring these themes through science and art I can begin to feel a personal connection and responsibility to the issues; they become real,&#8221; Madrid said.<\/p>\n<p>Scroll down for a full gallery of monotype prints by Madrid, and check out more of his art on Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/noelmadridart\/\">@noelmadridart<\/a> and website at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.noelmadrid.com\/\">noelmadrid.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018035\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018035\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018035\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103137\/Madrid_Untitled-11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1575\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018035\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018031\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018031\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018031\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103052\/Madrid_Untitled-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1650\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018036\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018036\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018036\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103232\/Madrid_Untitled-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1618\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018028\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018028\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018028\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103019\/Coronaviridae-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1650\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018028\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018032\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103102\/Madrid_Untitled-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1644\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018033\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018033\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018033\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103120\/Madrid_Untitled-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1601\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018033\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018029\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018029\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018029\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103034\/Madrid_Untitled-8.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1597\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018037\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018037\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018037\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103247\/Virus-cluster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1661\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018037\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018038\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018038\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103256\/Virus-lipid-envelope.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1614\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018034\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018034\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018034\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103129\/Madrid_Untitled-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1650\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000018030\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000018030\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10000018030\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/15103040\/Madrid_Untitled-9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1622\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000018030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monoprint courtesy Noel Madrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Local artist Noel Madrid&#8217;s prints of micro-organisms may focus on what\u2019s tiny, but speak to a much bigger 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